“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”: EQUITY AS A FUNDAMENTAL DIMENSION OF HEALTH

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Inequity in health remains one of the most pressing challenges in global public health, marked by unjust and avoidable differences in access to healthcare, quality of services, and health outcomes across populations. While inequality refers to differences in health status or distribution of resources, inequity emphasizes the ethical and social injustices that underpin these disparities, often arising from systemic factors such as socioeconomic status, race, gender, and geographic location (WHO, 2018; Marmot, 2020). The distinction between inequity and inequality is pivotal for addressing health disparities, as it frames these differences as a matter of fairness and rights rather than merely outcomes.