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Equity in health care: the Irish perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2010

Samantha Smith  and
Charles Normand
Samantha Smith*
Affiliation:
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Health Research & Information Division, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland
Charles Normand
Affiliation:
Edward Kennedy Professor of Health Policy and Management, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Correspondence to: Dr Samantha Smith, The Economic and Social Research Institute, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland. Email: samantha.smith@esri.ie
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Abstract

Equity is espoused in many national health policy statements but is a complex concept and is difficult to define. The way in which equity is defined in policy has implications for how the health-care system should be structured. Conflicts between different definitions of equity are identified in theory and policy. This paper discusses these issues, with specific focus on the equity principles underpinning the Irish health-care system. The complex mix of public and private funding in the Irish system brings the challenges in identifying (and achieving) equity objectives more sharply into view, and serves as a warning system for other countries.

Type
Articles
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , 16 March 2011 , pp. 205 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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