Social justice is a matter of life and death. It affects
the way people live, their consequent chance of
illness, and their risk of premature death. We watch in
wonder as life expectancy and good health continue
to increase in parts of the world and in alarm as they
fail to improve in others. A girl born today can expect
to live for more than 80 years if she is born in some
countries – but less than 45 years if she is born in
others. Within countries there are dramatic differences
in health that are closely linked with degrees of social
disadvantage. Differences of this magnitude, within and
between countries, simply should never happen.
These inequities in health, avoidable health inequalities,
arise because of the circumstances in which people
grow, live, work, and age, and the systems put in place
to deal with illness. The conditions in which people live
and die are, in turn, shaped by political, social, and
economic forces.
Social and economic policies have a determining
impact on whether a child can grow and develop to
its full potential and live a flourishing life, or whether
its life will be blighted. Increasingly the nature of the
health problems rich and poor countries have to solve
are converging. The development of a society, rich or
poor, can be judged by the quality of its population’s
health, how fairly health is distributed across the social
spectrum, and the degree of protection provided from
disadvantage as a result of ill-health.