COVID-19 pandemic: a unique opportunity to 'build back fairer' and reduce health inequities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

East Mediterr Health J. 2021 Mar 23;27(3):217-219. doi: 10.26719/2021.27.3.217.ABSTRACTEvidence has shown that some of the major causes of health inequities arise from the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, in addition to a wider set of forces and systems shaping individuals' and societies' health and well-being. Such conditions are known as the 'social determinants of health'. However, efforts to address these determinants have remained challenging and unsatisfactory in many parts of the world, including in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Policies to contain the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have further exposed and amplified the existing and even created new dimensions in social and health inequities, as we elaborate further below. Meanwhile, the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to tackle inequities and build back fairer.PMID:33788208 | DOI:10.26719/2021.27.3.217
Source: Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal - Category: Middle East Health Authors: Source Type: research