What Does the Empirical Evidence Tell Us About the Injustice of Health Inequalities?

Abstract

How we should think about health inequalities depends, in part, on the facts and on our understanding of the causal mechanisms that underlie them. I consider a number of different health inequalities—the appearance of the gradient in 18th century England, health differences between men and women, inequalities among children, between races, by education, and by income, and the biggest health inequalities of all, between rich and poor nations. In each case I discuss the facts, how they came about, and what ought to be done about them. I argue that a prime focus for policy should be health inequalities among children. For adults, the main priority should be the design of policies that prevent sickness causing loss of income. There is a strong case for health-focused assistance from rich to poor countries, though such aid is not without its harms.

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