PAJPH Special Issue - Health equity in the Americas after COVID-19

This special issue of the Pan American Journal of Public Health on health equity seeks to enhance the body of public health literature and evidence on the realities of inequities in health in the Americas, their underlying causes, and, especially, the options for policy responses and action. 

The variety of analysis that is expressed in this special issue’s articles reflects a need for multiple consolidating approaches to health equity. Their focus ranges from the need for an equity focus in national health plans (Kavanagh et al.), in public health infrastructure (Benjamin), and in access to technology (Mayer-Foulkes et al.); the urgency of action on the social determinants of health as well as on structural drivers, including gender inequality and structural racism (González Vélez et al., Viáfara et al.), including through approaches such as intercultural approaches and traditional medicine (Gallego-Pérez et al.). They also demonstrate the importance of accountability mechanisms, such as the roles of civil society and collaborative research (Castro et al., Hassell et al.) among other equity-related themes.