What is equity in healthcare and why does it matter?
The World Health Organization defines equity in health care as the ability of all people to reach their full potential for health and well-being, regardless of gender, gender, ethnicity, disability or religion. In other words, an equitable health care system ensures that there are no unfair, avoidable, or remediable differences between groups of people. Unfortunately, marginalized and underrepresented communities are often underserved and are far from achieving global health equity. It’s no wonder that achieving health and well-being for all is his third of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
What are the characteristics of equity in healthcare in the MENA region?
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, inequalities in health care often occur across gender boundaries due to institutional and cultural biases. And a study of the area shows the point. Based on World Economic Forum Global 2022 gender gap report, MENA, which measures economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, has the second highest gender gap in the world, after South Asia at 36.6%.
There are many complex reasons for the persistence of inequalities in health care, and we must work together to address them. An immediate action we can take is to make efficient use of advanced technology to ensure greater equity across the sector.
How can advanced technology improve equity in healthcare?
Covid has put tremendous pressure on the health system, disrupting the treatment of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. One of the most important innovations in healthcare that we have technology to thank is telemedicine. The expansion of telemedicine and digital prescribing services has enabled patients to continue receiving non-urgent care without having to go to a medical facility in person. This is important to reduce the risk of coronavirus to patients, especially those with chronic diseases, while ensuring continued accessibility. Telemedicine also has a significant impact on remote communities. Physical access to medical facilities is often difficult in remote communities.
Another revolution in healthcare is access to big data and analytics. Health information systems (HIS) are key to transforming healthcare because they increase efficiency, increase productivity, and reduce costs. But most importantly in terms of equity, more data will help us identify those at risk of disease, adjust treatment, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. For example, the social determinants of our health analytics platform enable providers and payers to prioritize care and allocate resources to at-risk individuals and patient populations. HIS software brings together clinical, social, and population health data to give public and private health stakeholders a complete picture of patient health. This is very important in being able to identify people at increased risk of disease.
Understanding social risk factors is all part of the journey to preventive medicine. Knowing who is at risk, from what, and why, allows early and targeted intervention. If we can understand who and where are most at risk, we can learn how to apply specific therapeutic interventions, such as 3M-052, a vaccine adjuvant developed by 3M for Covid patients. Increase the efficacy of vaccines in development. It opens up new possibilities for prevention and intervention where it’s needed most.
Advanced technology is opening up a world of new possibilities in healthcare. The Covid pandemic is driving momentum towards digital transformation across industries today. We are also seeing significant public support for the healthcare opportunities offered by new technologies. In the UAE, for example, our report found that 43% of people in the UAE believe that using AI, data analytics and digital medical records to track and improve patient health is a priority for science. expected to be one of the most significant advances in Beyond Covid-19 (versus 33% globally).
What more must the industry do to address equity in healthcare?
Across the industry, more needs to be done to ensure equitable representation, which is essential for equitable outcomes. And for the medical sector, that means getting more women and underrepresented minorities into her STEM early. We have pledged him to invest $50 million to address the opportunity gap and her STEM education initiative. In doing so, we hope to improve economic equity by creating 5 million unique HER STEM and skilled vocational learning experiences for underrepresented individuals by the end of 2025. I’m here.
And finally, we must stress the importance of working together across the industry to ensure greater equity. New technologies and the evolving healthcare landscape will bring more equity to healthcare, whether we work together to implement new digital health record systems to increase the representation of minorities across the sector. collaboration is essential.
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