Editorial - Towards equity as core business for policy makers and practitioners

Abstract

To achieve health equity means that we must be concerned with creating equal opportunities for health and with bringing health differentials down to the lowest level possible. Jones points to the need to address the social determinants of health and the social determinants of equity. Each requires different actions on the part of the health sector in particular, and on the part of government, civil society and the private sector in general. There are multiple reasons to be concerned about andcommitted to eliminating inequities in health and in the distribution of its determinants. Ultimately, however, 'the true measure of a nation?s standing is how well it attends to its children ? their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialisation, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies in which they are born'. The WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health was a compelling reminder of this and of the consequences if we fail.