Socioeconomic status and blindness

Reference to inequalities in health has been made in the past-for example, by William Farr in the 19th century. There is evidence that these inequalities also exist within the developed countries 5-7 as well as within the developing countries. 8 9 Globally there is increasing concern for the health of the poor and for reduction in health inequalities. 2 3 Inequalities refer to relative health status. In simple terms, this is a measure of how worse oV the disadvantaged group is relative to the advantaged group. 2 Health inequalities can be assessed by two diVerent aspects of health-the health status and the health service use and financing. The traditional approach for assessing inequalities in health status has been based on income or economic standing. In addition, education and occupation have also been used to assess the differences in health status as a proxy for economic status. However, the economic dimension is not the only one that influences health inequalities. The other important dimensions are sex, ethnic, and regional inequalities. The other aspects of health inequalities, health service use and financing, measure the inequality in the use of