What are the root causes of health inequity?

Health inequity is due to human-made systems and structures that privilege certain groups and underserve or actively oppress others. This occurs through the unequal distribution of power and resources.

For example, these structures includeTrusted Source:

• racism, which distributes more power and resources to one race over another, typically meaning that historically marginalized racial or ethnic groups — such as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and Pacific Islander people — receive fewer resources
• sexism, which privileges one gender over another, meaning that in most cases, men have more privileges than women and other gender identities
• classism, which gives unfair advantage to those with wealth and social status and disadvantages those with less
• xenophobia, which gives nonimmigrants more power and rights than immigrants
• heterosexism, which privileges heterosexuality over other sexual orientations
• ableism, which values able-bodied people and devalues people with mental or physical disabilities

These systems are complex and interdependent, meaning that they all affect one another. Many people are affected by more than one of these systems.

People perpetuate these systems at every level, including at an:

• institutional level, which includes how organizations and governments set their laws, policies, and practices
• interpersonal level, which includes how people behave toward each other
• internal level, which includes how people view themselves

The result of this is environmental, social, and economic differences that impact people’s health, leading to health inequity.