Dear Editor,
Tom Underhill makes helpful points in the May issue of en about the complexity of a human life and the blunt tools being used to measure equity and equality.
Equity though is not a new concept. Progressive taxation is considered appropriate in most modern societies. In healthcare, the ‘inverse care law’ is that those who need care most receive it least. When new initiatives to promote health arise, such as cardiovascular disease checks, GP practices are flooded with patients who are well educated, non-smokers who exercise regularly rendering the checks useless.
