Why is equity in healthcare important and how technology can close the gap?

What is equity in health care and why is it important?
The World Health Organization defines equity in health care as the ability of everyone, regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, disability or religion, to achieve their full health potential and of well-being. In other words, an equitable health system ensures that there are no unfair, avoidable or remediable differences between groups of people. Unfortunately, globally, we are far from achieving equity in health care, with marginalized and underrepresented communities often being underserved. It’s no wonder, then, that health and well-being for all is number three of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

What are the unique characteristics of health care equity in the MENA region?
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, health care inequities often occur between genders due to institutional and cultural biases. And regional research demonstrates this point. Based on World Economic Forum 2022 Global Gender Gap Report, which measures economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, the MENA region has the second highest gender gap in the world after only South Asia at 36.6%.

While there are many complex reasons why inequality in health care persists, we must come together to address them. The immediate action we can take is to effectively use the advanced technologies available to ensure greater fairness in the sector.

How can advanced technology support greater equity in health care?
Covid has put enormous pressure on health systems, leading to disruptions in the treatment of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Telemedicine is one of the most important innovations in healthcare that we can thank thanks to technology. The expansion of telemedicine and digital prescription services has allowed patients to continue to receive non-emergency care without having to visit a medical facility in person. This has been essential in reducing the risk of coronavirus for patients, especially those with chronic conditions, while ensuring continued accessibility. Telemedicine also has huge implications for remote communities, where physical access to a medical facility can often be cumbersome.

Another revolution in healthcare is access to big data and analytics. Health Information Systems (HIS) are critical to healthcare transformation because they improve efficiency, increase productivity and reduce costs. More importantly, however, when it comes to equity, more data can help identify those at risk of disease, tailor treatments, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. For example, our social determinants of health analytics platform enables healthcare providers and payers to prioritize care and allocate resources to high-risk individuals and patient populations. HIS software brings together clinical, social and population health data to enable public and private healthcare actors to view a holistic and comprehensive picture of patient health. This is extremely important in order to be able to identify those who are at greater risk of disease.

Understanding social risk factors is part of the journey to preventive health care – if we know who is at risk for what and why, we can create targeted early interventions. If we can understand who is most at risk and where, we can learn to apply specific therapeutic interventions, such as the “3M-052” vaccine adjuvant developed by 3M for Covid patients. It stimulates the immune response and improves the effectiveness of vaccines under development. It opens up new possibilities for prevention and intervention where they are most needed.

Cutting-edge technology is opening up a new world of possibilities in healthcare and, due to the Covid pandemic, we are now seeing the momentum towards digital transformation accelerating across the industry. We are also seeing vital public support for the opportunities presented by new healthcare technologies. In the UAE, for example, our report indicates that 43% of the UAE population expects the use of AI, data analytics and digital health records to track and Improving patient health outcomes is one of the key advances in healthcare that science must prioritize. beyond Covid-19 (compared to 33% globally).

What more does the industry need to do to ensure equity in health care?
Across the industry, we need to do more to ensure fair representation, which is essential to achieving fair results. And for the medical sector, that means bringing more women and underrepresented minorities into STEM earlier. We have pledged to invest $50 million to close opportunity gaps and STEM education initiatives. In doing so, we hope to advance economic equity by creating five million unique STEM and skilled trades learning experiences for underrepresented people by the end of 2025.

Finally, we must emphasize the importance of collaboration within the industry to ensure greater fairness. With new technologies and the changing healthcare landscape, collaboration is key to bringing more equity to healthcare, whether that means working together to implement new health record systems to ensure greater representation of minorities throughout the sector.