According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in order to achieve health equity we must “improve the conditions of daily life – the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age.” Ok, but what is health equity?
Health Equity concerns differences in (mental, physical, social, etc) that can be traced to social and structural causes such as history, policy, culture, environment, race, gender and class. While some health outcomes can be attributed to behaviors, genes and random events, these factors alone do not explain the vast disparities in health that we see within every country. Behavior is often a response to other social factors, it is rarely a purely individual choice.
Health Equity cannot be achieved through individual behavior change programs, or through the addition of community services. Those are still wonderful public health intervention strategies, but they are also a band-aid when our society may needs surgery. Achieving health equity requires civic engagement, policy change, and a change in the public conversation. Until there is a movement of people who see health as a right for every person no matter their race, class, gender or location, there will be no way to achieve health equity,.
