Problems in reducing health inequalities

Abstract

This article defines and distinguishes between unavoidable health inequalities and unjust and preventable health inequities. It describes the dimensions along which health inequalities are commonly examined, including across the global population, between countries or states, and within geographies, by socially relevant groupings such as race/ethnicity, gender, education, income, occupation, and more. We show different theories attempt to explain group-level differences in health and the persistence of socioeconomic inequalities in health even in the highly developed „welfare state”’ of Western Europe.