PHA-Exchange> Poverty, inequity and health

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POVERTY AND INEQUITY IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION: OUR NEED TO CHANGE AND TO
RE-CONCEPTUALIZE
http://www.equityhealthj.com/content/2/1/4
The best way to improve the health and nutrition of the poor still is to
have them move out of poverty. For equity to be achieved, economic growth in
the development process needs to be deliberately geared towards the needs of
the poor. Focusing on sustainable poverty alleviation is inseparable from
bringing about greater equity. A focus on both tasks is necessary to achieve
the indispensable reduction in the existing rich-poor gap. Focusing on
poverty alleviation alone can end up as charity in disguise. Focusing on
equity is a step towards social justice. Equity and social justice in health
and nutrition are one and the same thing: in health and nutrition, social
inequities are always unfair.
This is an extract from an article in the
International Journal for Equity in Health 2003.