Inequalities in HealthConcepts, Measures, and Ethics

Abstract

Some people enjoy much longer and healthier lives than others. Of every thousand children born in Iceland, two will die before their first birthday, but in Mozambique the death rate is sixty times higher. Even within countries—including some of the wealthiest—inequalities in longevity and health can be substantial. This book poses the key questions: Which inequalities in longevity and health among individuals, groups, and nations are unfair? And what priority should health policy attach to narrowing them? The book is organized into three parts covering: defining and measuring health inequality, health inequality and egalitarianism, and health inequality and public policy.