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<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=ruglucia@PAHO.ORG
href="mailto:ruglucia@PAHO.ORG">Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#993300
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #993300; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Defining equity in
health</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR></SPAN></FONT><B><FONT
face=Arial color=navy size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">P
Braveman</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, Department of Family
and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA
<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">S Gruskin</SPAN></B>, International
Health and Human Rights Program, Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and
Human Rights, Harvard University School of Public Health, USA</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><B><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">J
Epidemiol Community Health April - 2003; Vol 57 Number 4,
254-258</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
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size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Website:
<A href="http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/57/4/254?etoc"><FONT
color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy">http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/57/4/254?etoc</SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
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size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"........For the
purposes of measurement and operationalisation,<SUP> </SUP>equity in health is
the absence of systematic disparities in<SUP> </SUP>health (or in the major
social determinants of health) between<SUP> </SUP>groups with different levels
of underlying social advantage/disadvantage-that<SUP> </SUP>is, wealth, power,
or prestige. Inequities in health systematically<SUP> </SUP>put groups of people
who are already socially disadvantaged<SUP> </SUP>(for example, by virtue of
being poor, female, and/or members<SUP> </SUP>of a disenfranchised racial,
ethnic, or religious group) at<SUP> </SUP>further disadvantage with respect to
their health; health is<SUP> </SUP>essential to wellbeing and to overcoming
other effects of social<SUP> </SUP>disadvantage. <BR><BR>Equity is an ethical
principle; it also is consonant<SUP> </SUP>with and closely related to human
rights principles. The proposed<SUP> </SUP>definition of equity supports
operationalisation of the right<SUP> </SUP>to the highest attainable standard of
health as indicated by<SUP> </SUP>the health status of the most socially
advantaged group. Assessing<SUP> </SUP>health equity requires comparing health
and its social determinants<SUP> </SUP>between more and less advantaged social
groups. These comparisons<SUP> </SUP>are essential to assess whether national
and international policies<SUP> </SUP>are leading toward or away from greater
social justice in health</SPAN></FONT>....."</P>
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