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Monitoring Health Inequalities in 12 European Countries: Lessons Learned from the Joint Action Health Equity Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Pi Högberg

    (Unit for Public Health Reporting and Evaluation, Public Health Agency of Sweden, 17182 Solna, Sweden)

  • Göran Henriksson

    (Region Västra Götaland, Regionens Hus, 40544 Göteborg, Sweden)

  • Carme Borrell

    (Public Health Agency of Barcelona, Place Lesseps 1, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, Av. Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain)

  • Marius Ciutan

    (Centre for Health Services Research and Evaluation, National School of Public Health Management and Professional Development, Vaselor Str. 31, 021253 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Giuseppe Costa

    (Epidemiology Unit ASL TO3, Region Piedmont, Via Sabaudia 164, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy)

  • Irene Georgiou

    (Administration Unit, Ministry of Health, 2 Prodromou & Chilonos Str. 17, Nicosia 1448, Cyprus)

  • Rafal Halik

    (Department of Population Health Monitoring and Analysis, National Institute of Public Health NIH—National Research Institute, Chocimska 24, 00-791 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Jens Hoebel

    (Division of Social Determinants of Health, Robert Koch Institute, General-Pape-Str. 62-66, 12101 Berlin, Germany)

  • Katri Kilpeläinen

    (Health and Welfare Promotion Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Mannerheimintie 166, 00270 Helsinki, Finland)

  • Theopisti Kyprianou

    (Health Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Health, 2 Prodromou & Chilonos Str. 17, Nicosia 1448, Cyprus)

  • Tina Lesnik

    (Analysis and Development of Health, National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Indre Petrauskaite

    (Institute of Hygiene, Didžioji Str. 22, LT-01128 Vilnius, Lithuania)

  • Annemarie Ruijsbroek

    (Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands)

  • Silvia Gabriela Scintee

    (Centre for Health Services Research and Evaluation, National School of Public Health Management and Professional Development, Vaselor Str. 31, 021253 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Milena Vasic

    (Institute of Public Health of Serbia, Dr Subotica 5, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
    Faculty of Dentistry Pancevo, Zarka Zrenjanina 179, 13000 Pancevo, Serbia)

  • Gabriella Olsson

    (Unit for Public Health Reporting and Evaluation, Public Health Agency of Sweden, 17182 Solna, Sweden)

Abstract

To raise awareness about health inequalities, a well-functioning health inequality monitoring system (HIMS) is crucial. Drawing on work conducted under the Joint Action Health Equity Europe, the aim of this paper is to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses in current health inequality monitoring based on lessons learned from 12 European countries and to discuss what can be done to strengthen their capacities. Fifty-five statements were used to collect information about the status of the capacities at different steps of the monitoring process. The results indicate that the preconditions for monitoring vary greatly between countries. The availability and quality of data are generally regarded as strong, as is the ability to disaggregate data by age and gender. Regarded as poorer is the ability to disaggregate data by socioeconomic factors, such as education and income, or by other measures of social position, such as ethnicity. Few countries have a proper health inequality monitoring strategy in place and, where in place, it is often regarded as poorly up to date with policymakers’ needs. These findings suggest that non-data-related issues might be overlooked aspects of health inequality monitoring. Structures for stakeholder involvement and communication that attracts attention from policymakers are examples of aspects that deserve more effort.

Suggested Citation

  • Pi Högberg & Göran Henriksson & Carme Borrell & Marius Ciutan & Giuseppe Costa & Irene Georgiou & Rafal Halik & Jens Hoebel & Katri Kilpeläinen & Theopisti Kyprianou & Tina Lesnik & Indre Petrauskaite, 2022. "Monitoring Health Inequalities in 12 European Countries: Lessons Learned from the Joint Action Health Equity Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-13, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7663-:d:845615
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wyper, Grant Mark Andrew & Fletcher, Eilidh & Grant, Ian & Harding, Oliver & de Haro Moro, Maria Teresa & Stockton, Diane L & McCartney, Gerard, 2021. "Inequalities in population health loss by multiple deprivation: COVID-19 and pre-pandemic all-cause disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Scotland," SocArXiv js3h6, Center for Open Science.
    2. David Niemeijer & Rudolf Groot, 2008. "Framing environmental indicators: moving from causal chains to causal networks," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 89-106, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carme Borrell & Laia Palència & Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo & Xavier Bartoll & Mercè Gotsens & M. Isabel Pasarín & Lucía Artazcoz & Maica Rodríguez-Sanz & María José López & Katherine Pérez, 2023. "A City Surveillance System for Social Health Inequalities: The Case of Barcelona," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-7, February.
    2. Sowmiya Moorthie & Vicki Peacey & Sian Evans & Veronica Phillips & Andres Roman-Urrestarazu & Carol Brayne & Louise Lafortune, 2022. "A Scoping Review of Approaches to Improving Quality of Data Relating to Health Inequalities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, November.

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