Academic community calls for multidisciplinary approach to reduce health inequalities

Inequalities in health may have different causes, yet the most persistent and man-made are linked to the social factor. Socio-economic position, education or access to healthcare are likely to have considerable impact on our physical and mental wellbeing, as they do on the susceptibility to diseases. So what can societies and especially lawmakers do to reduce the inequalities caused by these factors?

Around 200 researchers, civil society representatives, and members of the public discussed these and further questions at the “Social Inequalities in Health Symposium“. The event was organised by Académie nationale de médecine in partnership with ALLEA and FEAM, the Federation of European Academies of Medecine, and took place on 22 January 2020 in Paris.

‘Sadly, health inequalities in all European countries are increasing even though we know many of the causes. It was stressed at the symposium that with so much evidence at our disposal we need to act decisively and bring stakeholders from research, civil society, policy and the wider society together to develop policies concerning inequalities.‘, says Professor Graham Caie, Vice President of ALLEA, who chaired the session on health systems, education and mental health. ‘Medical, social and educational factors of health inequalities are closely interlineked and require a multidisciplinary approach. Our networks of academies can assist with finding the best experts to investigate this vitally important topic.’

The recent symposium in Paris followed a successful joint conference of ALLEA and FEAM in November 2019 in Brussels. This event looked further into exploring how vulnerable groups such as migrants often find themselves challenged for various reasons, from language barriers to adaptability of healthcare systems in receiving countries.

The following day, invited experts from across Europe and North America attended a workshop focusing on key methodologies of health inequalities research. This meeting emerged from a joint ALLEA-FEAM-KNAW (the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) project that seeks to synthesise the evidence-base and identify consensus among the various disciplines involved in the subject of health inequalities. A subsequent expert workshop will address causalities and socioeconomic inequalities in health will take place on 18 March in Berlin.