Improving average health and persisting health inequities - Towards a justice and fairness platform for health policy making in Asia

Abstract

Background: Following a period of rapid economic and social change across Asia in the 1980s and 1990s, there have been persisting reports of public sector health systems decline and worsening health inequities within countries. Many studies and analyses in the region have indicated that these inequities are socially determined, leading to questions regarding the adequacy of current health policy approaches towards addressing the challenge of persisting health inequities. Methods: Utilizing published data from Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and case studies and reviews on health inequity in the Asian region, this article aims to describe the existing patterns of inequity of health access bo..