Health and inequalities have crucial interactions, especially in the context of sustainable development. In this regard, class-based disparities and unequal access to healthcare services can increase communicable diseases, public health issues, and psychological health problems. These challenges heighten healthcare expenditure for vulnerable and poor populations, increasing economic costs by reducing labor productivity, financial budget, and infrastructural resilience. In this way, they highlight the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, including SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Despite numerous related studies and efforts, there are still severe health issues and inequalities necessitating a novel strand of research through an all-inclusive lens of sustainable development perspectives. Health and inequality have been extensively investigated in the literature, but only limited studies have explicitly explored their intersections from an interdisciplinary viewpoint of the sustainable development framework. While they have widely examined health and economic inequality at national and global levels, they have overlooked regional, city, and community levels. This includes addressing disproportionate access to medical services by marginalized populations like migrants, disabled people, and elders. It has also disregarded the uneven distribution of intergenerational health provisions, leading to maternal health disorders, cumulative impacts of malnutrition, and health education disparities.

To address this gap, this Research Topic aims to explore the health implications of economic inequalities in the context of sustainable development. It seeks to mitigate and resolve health issues and unequal access to healthcare services by promoting economic justice and sustainability practices. These solutions cover effective policies, governmental interventions, and sustainable strategies. Accordingly, the Research Topic welcomes submissions that explore a range of topics, including but not limited to the following themes:

• Fair distribution of healthcare services: Exploring the interrelationships of access to healthcare and medical services with economic discriminations including rural-urban income gap and gender-based wage inequality, associated with SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

• Health expenditure and economic equality: Investigating the interconnections between unequal distribution of health costs and economic development through productivity theories, out-of-pocket healthcare, and poverty mitigation, consistent with SDG 1 (No Poverty).

• Integrated strategies for equal health provision: Evaluating inter-sectoral interventions that enhance spillover effects between health systems and economic equity, underscoring the synergies and trade-offs between health and SDGs, aligning with SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).

• Sustainable health sector and equity: Contributing to developing or enhancing models for equal healthcare services and sustainable health systems using different sustainability perspectives such as health-centered sustainability and integrated sustainability.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Health Services and Economic Inequalities through the Lens of Sustainable Development

Topic Coordinator