Health-care equity--for all generations?

摘要

The report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (Nov 8, p 1661) represents a formidable achievement. However, in a world where most older people live in the developing world, the prominent emphasis given to factors linked to inequity including gender, education, occupation, income, ethnicity, and place of residence, seems to miss out on the pervasive nature of ageism. Where later life figures in the full report, it is largely related to social protection issues such as pensions, but not to other forms of ageism which restrict access to a wide range of services including health care. Even in disaster relief, older people suffer a disproportionate neglect.