WHO says health equity in Europe is stalling or getting worse

The WHO just launched its first-ever report on health equity, and disparities across Europe have either stalled or are worsening. Data from 2005 until 2016 shows that in 75% of the countries surveyed, life expectancy differences among the most and least advantaged regions have not changed, or in some cases gotten wider. Gaps in inequities also increased with age: While 6% more girls and 5% more boys from less advantaged households reported poorer health than their more affluent counterparts, those figures jumped to 19% and 17%, respectively, for adults under the age of 65. The report’s authors identified five risk factors that seem to drive these inequities, including income security, which was responsible for more than a third of health inequities, and access to quality health care, which was responsible for about 10% of inequities.