Achieving health equity: democracy matters

Abstract

Progress on health equity in the European region in the past two decades has been slower than expected. Indeed, some countries have even seen health inequalities widen.1 This slow progress is, to some extent, surprising because there is almost unanimous political commitment to addressing health inequities and many countries have made great strides in implementing policies to reduce the health gap.1,2 Europe, as a region, is on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) overall, but countries are not attaining SDG 10 and SDG 3 because ensuring healthy lives for all is impossible without reducing health inequities.