Health Equity

One of the major concerns in global healthcare currently is health equity. Although it has become more often noted by healthcare institutions, policy makers, and the public, it is rarely explicitly defined and has been a long-lasted issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to ‘attain his or her full health potential’ and no one is ‘disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances’” (2022).

Health equity may be a channel through which we can achieve “an overall state of wellbeing encompassing clinical, mental, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual health that is influenced by not just health care, but also social, economic, and environmental factors” (Allen, 2022). However, numerous factors,such as racism, bias, unfair distribution of resources, structural flaws in healthcare systems, poor healthcare quality, and differences in the accessibility of healthcare, have stopped us from achieving such a state but led to disparities and discrimination. Even in places where universal healthcare that is free at the point of delivery is provided, such as the UK, inequalities still exist. For example, in England, life expectancy varies depending on where people live. People living in the most-deprived areas have a life expectancy nearly a decade shorter than the least-deprived areas: life expectancy is 78 years in Manchester and 86 years in Westminster. Furthermore, effects of inequities are multiplied for those who have more than one type of disadvantage.

The reason why health equity has been existing for so long but cannot be achieved is that it has so many factors and aspects to consider when addressing the issue. The topic raises the issue of how we measure health outcomes. One of the most widely used methods is considering quality adjusted life years when assessing the value of medical interventions. It combines the quality and quantity of life lived and thus is very helpful in comparing the value of treatments. However, if it is used to allocate healthcare resources (technology, devices and professionals), it almost always favours younger patients and patients without chronic illnesses. Equity with allocation of resources then brings the issue of opportunity cost. Although it can be seen as dehumanizing, health professionals often have to make comparisons between patients, procedures, and sectors to determine whether to use the money, time and resources to someone/something else, such as a person requesting weight loss surgery versus smoking quitting service that benefits more people. How do we access equity then?

Nevertheless, institutions and communities have been working hard to promote public health especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. (real-life examples)

Nonprofit that specializes in preparing nutritious, medically-tailored meals for people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, dementia/Alzheimer’s, and other life-altering conditions, to whom people do not need to show them medical proof right away. They deliver their first meal within two days of receiving their request—no questions asked—and will continue to deliver meals as long as they or their doctor submit medical proof of eligibility within 10 days. From then on, the person in need will work with a team that will help tailor their meals to their medical and nutritional needs.
STD/STI bus that goes around to more STI-prone communities and tests for free with results in a couple of days, even offering incentives, contraceptives, and education for getting blood drawn.
Nonprofit that offers programs with different levels of intensity based on a questionnaire that assesses people’s level of need.

Health equity may take decades after decades of consistent and quality work to achieve, but by “making health a political priority”, collaborating between communities, spreading healthcare knowledge and respect for cultures, developing data and analytics expertise, and raising awareness of disparities, we may take a step closer to better health outcomes.

References

“2022 Global Health Care Outlook.” Deloitte, 28 Jan. 2022, www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/life-

sciences-and-healthcare/articles/global-health-care-sector-outlook.html.

“Health Equity | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/healthequity/index.htm. Accessed 3 Sept. 2022.

“Health Inequalities in a Nutshell.” The King’s Fund, 20 Aug. 2021,

www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/health-inequalities.