Alternatives to national average income data as eligibility criteria for international subsidies: a social justice perspective.
Current strategies to address global inequities in access to life-saving vaccines use averaged national income data to determine eligibility. While largely successful in the lowest income countries, we argue that this approach could lead to significant inefficiencies from the standpoint of justice if applied to middle-income countries, where income inequalities are large and lead to national averages that obscure truly needy populations. Instead, we suggest alternative indicators more sensitive to social justice concerns that merit consideration by policy-makers developing new initiatives to redress health inequities in middle-income countries.
Shebaya
Sirine
S
Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University – Health, Policy and Management, 624 N.Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States. sps87@columbia.edu
Sutherland
Andrea
A
Levine
Orin
O
Faden
Ruth
R
D019049:Developed Countries; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000191:economics; D004608:Eligibility Determination / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000941:ethics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007391:International Cooperation; D008297:Male; D012935:Social Justice / Q000941:ethics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors