Health equity refers to a state where every individual has a fair and just opportunity to achieve their full health potential. This means no one is disadvantaged from reaching optimal health due to their social position or other socioeconomic factors. It encompasses ensuring access to essential resources such as nutritious food, stable housing, safe environments for physical activity, quality education, fair wages, clean air and water, accessible healthcare, and freedom from exploitation and systemic racism. Health inequities manifest through disparities in life expectancy, quality of life, disease prevalence and severity, disability rates, and access to appropriate treatment.

Social Determinants of Health

Health is influenced by much more than genetics and medical care alone. Various social and environmental factors—shaping the conditions in which people live, learn, work, and play—play a critical role in determining overall health outcomes. These social determinants directly impact an individual’s ability to achieve and maintain good health. Key social determinants of health include:

• Access to quality education
• Availability of nutritious and affordable food
• Safe and stable housing
• Reliable transportation options
• Access to comprehensive healthcare services
• Clean air and safe drinking water

What causes Health Equity?

To understand the root causes of health inequity, it’s essential to recognize the complex factors driving disparities in health and healthcare access. A key factor is socioeconomic status—encompassing income, education, and occupation—which influences three major determinants of health: access to healthcare, environmental exposures, and health behaviors. Individuals with lower socioeconomic status often face limited access to resources, resulting in poorer health outcomes and shorter lifespans compared to those with higher status. Additionally, chronic stress linked to lower socioeconomic standing can further increase risks of illness and mortality. Addressing health equity involves identifying and eliminating preventable health disparities—differences in disease burden, injury, or access to opportunities—and requires studying these issues within their broader social and structural contexts to develop effective, targeted strategies that remove barriers and promote fair health outcomes for all.

Categories of Health Equity

Health equity can be examined across several key categories, each highlighting distinct challenges and opportunities:

Cancer: Health equity in cancer means that everyone has equal access to early detection, prevention, appropriate treatment, and follow-up care. Screening plays a critical role in catching cancer early, but barriers such as financial constraints, lack of health insurance, jobs without sick leave, rural residence, and limited transportation access often prevent timely screenings. These obstacles can lead to late-stage diagnosis, making treatment more difficult and increasing mortality rates.

Chronic Diseases: Lifestyle factors like tobacco use, diet, and physical activity heavily influence the risk for major chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and lung disease. Socioeconomic status also impacts the ability to manage and treat these conditions, as medical costs often create significant financial strain on affected families.

Community Health: Community environments shape health outcomes through access to healthy food options (e.g., restaurants, school lunches), tobacco control policies, safe and walkable streets, housing regulations, and opportunities for physical activity in schools. These factors collectively influence population health and equity.

Obesity: Obesity is a growing public health concern with disparities evident across age, income, disability status, education, gender, race/ethnicity, and geography. Certain populations face higher risks due to social and environmental factors that limit healthy choices and opportunities.

Oral Health: Despite overall improvements in oral health nationwide, disparities persist. Many racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups experience poorer oral health due to lack of dental insurance, inability to afford out-of-pocket costs, work schedules that prevent dental visits, and living in communities without fluoridated water, healthy food options, or accessible transportation.

Tobacco: Tobacco use is linked to disproportionate disease, disability, and death rates among different groups. The tobacco industry often targets specific communities through tailored marketing and flavored products. Social pressures such as discrimination and poverty exacerbate tobacco use and related health problems. Additionally, unequal protection from secondhand smoke and limited access to cessation treatments contribute to ongoing health inequities in tobacco-related outcomes.

Conclusion

Health equity means that every individual should have equal access to the resources and opportunities needed to achieve their full health potential. In the U.S., however, many populations face significant barriers that prevent them from obtaining adequate healthcare and other essential supports. Achieving health equity is complex, involving not only access to resources but also addressing the broader lifestyle, socioeconomic, and systemic factors that impact health outcomes. To move toward true health equity, healthcare systems must actively promote inclusion and representation, while confronting and dismantling discriminatory practices such as racism that contribute to ongoing disparities.

In order to strive for health equity, healthcare systems must support inclusion and representation while battling discriminatory factors such as racism.