Abstract
It seems reasonable to suggest that, if any systematic and sustained improvements in the health and equity arena are going to be achieved, a clear idea of what health is might be a necessary starting point. Currently, health inequity is assessed through apparent indicators of health such as infant mortality and life expectancy (Beckfield et al. in Social Theory & Health 13(3–4):227–244, 2015; Bezruchka in Divided: The perils of our growing inequality. The New Press, New York, pp. 190–198, 2014; Blazquez-Fernandez et al. in Global Economic Review: Perspectives on East Asian Economies and Industries 47(4):464–479, 2018). Other indicators include the presence of various diseases and also premature death (Mackenbach in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 45:113–120, 2017). Despite the way in which health inequity is assessed, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that a preference is developing for referring to “life expectancy inequity” or “disease inequity”. Instead, the term “health inequity” is used consistently.
The habit of an opinion often leads to the complete conviction of its truth, it hides the weaker parts of it, and makes us incapable of accepting the proofs against it. Jons Jacob Berzelius
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Carey, T.A., Tai, S.J., Griffiths, R. (2021). Health Through the Lens of Control: A Different Look at Well-Being and Being Well. In: Deconstructing Health Inequity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68053-4_4
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