Political, economic, and practical choices that effect health inequalities are now being made. This portal is for public health professionals to exchange ideas and experiences, and for civil servants, educators, and people working on environment, social, and employment issues to find resources to help address inequalities in their fields.

Health inequalities are the systematic differences in health status between groups of people which are unfair and avoidable. The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered these inequalities, and added weight and urgency to action to address them. Certain groups are at higher risk of COVID-19, such as people suffering from co-morbidities, families living in poorer circumstances, essential workers, people experiencing mental health issues. Many are affected by measures disproportionately. There is therefore an urgent need to understand and help repair these underlying vulnerabilities and include a focus on health equity in recovery policies.

The Portal’s resource database provides nearly 600 examples of initiatives, policies, research, and publications at European levels and on the ground. It can serve as an aid for policy makers and practitioners to compare and learn from each other. Users are able to submit their own work that is in line with specific eligibility criteria in order to contribute to the growing knowledge base on how to invest in measures that address health inequalities.

The Health Inequalities Portal also includes the e-Guide for Financing Health Promoting Services including case studies, approaches and latest developments to inspire and inform users.

An interactive map allows users to compare the level of health inequalities within and between different countries in Europe, and find out more about national organisations working on health equity. Users can also discover the roles of the EU institutions in reducing health inequalities, and what action has already been taken in and by the EU.

“While EU budgets and national recovery plans are being planned and decided on, we need to stand ready with examples of how we can address health inequalities. With this Portal, EuroHealthNet aims to bring together new insights, resources, and information in one place and make it easier to reach. The Portal includes machine translation so to facilitate access in different languages. We hope that the Portal also helps to bridge public health and other sectors, which will improve action to reduce health inequalities and contribute to a better way out of the crisis and to a more sustainable and healthy Europe” said Caroline Costongs, EuroHealthNet Director.

The health inequalities in Europe.

Source:

New online portal for resources and information on health inequalities | EuroHealthNet