Ethical Dimensions of Health Equity
- 5 July 2001
- book chapter
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP)
Abstract
This chapter clarifies ethical concepts related to the complex issue of health equity. It discusses the concept of health, its causes, and distribution. It explores questions such as: What is equity in health? How is it linked to social justice? Why should we be concerned with inequities in health anyway? Can moral philosophy inform judgements about health equity? In doing so, the chapter reviews the relevance of existing theories of social justice to the underlying assumption that social inequalities in health are “unjust.” Utilitarianism and egalitarian theories are considered, before discussing the requirements of Rawlsian justice and the philosophical approach of Amartya Sen—the latter two placing the pursuit of health equity in the context of the larger pursuit of social justice.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- A vision of social justice as the foundation of public health: commemorating 150 years of the spirit of 1848.American Journal of Public Health, 1998
- Class, Health, and JusticeThe Milbank Quarterly, 1998
- Equality and PriorityRatio, 1997
- Equity and equality in health and health careJournal of Health Economics, 1993
- Justice, Gender, and International BoundariesPublished by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,1993
- Capability and Well‐BeingPublished by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,1993
- What does Equity in Health Mean?Journal of Social Policy, 1993
- The Concepts and Principles of Equity and HealthInternational Journal of Health Services, 1992
- The Concepts of Health and DiseasePublished by Springer Nature ,1975
- Concepts of Function and Mechanism in Medicine and Medical SciencePublished by Springer Nature ,1975