Health Inequities and Social Determinants of Health

Abstract Health inequity is one of humanity’s most acute challenges. Health inequity refers to the avoidable and unfair health burden borne by specific groups in the population. It is increasingly recognized as socially produced, is systematic and happens over the life course. There are still debates on the social conditions that cause this. Some are asking for action on the social determinants of health (SDH), and others on social goods. It is important to look at the experiences of groups like Black and African American, Latina, immigrant, and LGBTQIA peoples who have been historically marginalized. The conditions under which a person is born, lives, works, and ages influence health and disease risk. The inequalities found in today’s society are due to racism in systems. To strengthen public accountability, we must monitor how social conditions impact health outcomes and the variation of these conditions across subgroups. Unsafe and unhealthy neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and health environments come from an unfair spread of SDH. To critically assess and confront policies that perpetuate health inequalities, we need a political economy lens. To attain genuine health equity, it is necessary to comprehend and address these causes. Even though we know about them, we do not understand them or deal with them.