ABSTRACT
This chapter examines health inequalities and the equity of the distribution of health services more closely. It also examines the extent to which the level of economic development of a village eases or limits access to health resources. The chapter looks at the equity in the distribution of health services according to location of the villages. Health inequalities are intertwined with the question of equity. In many welfare states, the emphasis on universal access to social resources allocated to health brings about inequity in the distribution of these resources. One of the most consistent findings in epidemiology and the sociology of health and illness is the inverse relationship between social class, mortality, health, and illness. Communist and socialist governments are ideologically committed to abolishing class- and gender-based inequalities and to eradicate the differential access of particular social groups to valuable social goods and resources.
