The principle that everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain their full health potential, and that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving it because of social position or other socially determined circumstance. It is distinguished from equality, which would give everyone the same resources regardless of need.
Facts
First Described Year First Described Era1991, Margaret Whitehead's paper The Concepts and Principles of Equity and Health, published in Health Promotion International, is credited as the foundational statement of the modern health equity concept; it was written to clarify equity terminology for the World Health Organization's Health for All targets. 1 Concept Class Connections
Associated With
Equity in health is named by the Ottawa Charter as a focus of health promotion action.
Source World Health Organization Official Site
Source World Health Organization Official Site
Whitehead's widely used equity/inequality distinction (1991) is framed against the social gradient in health.
Source World Health Organization Official Site
In Branch
Source World Health Organization Official Site
Sources
1. Whitehead 1991: The Concepts and Principles of Equity and Health
Oxford University Press (Health Promotion International)Article citation header (journal, volume, issue, year, pages)Quote, Article citation header (journal, volume, issue, year, pages)
Health Promotion International, Volume 6, Issue 3, 1991, Pages 217-228
2. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationQuote
Health equity is achieved when everyone can attain their full potential for health and well-being.
Associated With: Health Promotion, Ottawa Charter, first global conference on health promotion
Health promotion focuses on achieving equity in health.
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