How can the private sector help advance health equity?

When it comes to making progress on health equity, there are many opportunities for companies across all sectors of industry to join the effort. A great first step is understanding the barriers people face (about half the world’s population can’t get the care they need) and the initiatives underway that aim to make healthcare more equitable and accessible.

Health equity is achieved when all people – no matter who they are or where they live – can reach their full potential for health and well-being. But today, too many people experience poor health outcomes, which are largely preventable and unfair (health inequities). Even in countries with well-funded health systems, people in marginalized and underserved communities often cannot access the health services they need.

COVID-19 has only intensified this situation, disproportionally impacting underserved and marginalized populations, worsening existing health disparities, and forcing vulnerable people into even more precarious positions. Gaps such as higher rates of poor health and disease among certain racial and ethnic minority groups have been brought into ever sharper focus post-pandemic, prompting a global call to respond to systemic inequalities.

According to McKinsey, by putting equity at the centre of public health programmes in the US, government agencies could improve health outcomes and more effectively address disparities. McKinsey suggests an approach that includes setting ambitious goals, tracking progress and working collaboratively and cross-functionally with internal and external stakeholders. Likewise, the private sector can help drive progress by:

Corporate ESG programmes not only inform how companies do business, but also make sure tangible actions are in place with measures to track results. Depending on a company’s core competencies, they may focus on helping improve the health and well-being of groups that disproportionally experience health inequity, such as children, women, minorities, LGBTQIA+, displaced people and others. A company can increase impact by teaming up and joining multi-sector collaborations like:

For health equity to exist, people must be able to access quality care without experiencing economic, social, or other obstacles. Healthcare innovators can respond to this challenge by accelerating digital transformation and developing technologies that make care more equitable and accessible. For example, mobile solutions can offer new ways to bring critical care closer to patients. Technologies such as mobile ultrasound with AI support, remote high-risk pregnancy monitoring solutions, and mobile apps hold great promise for closing care gaps in maternal and child health.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries and is the only one where maternal mortality is increasing among Black women. To help address maternal health inequity, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services designed an initiative to remove healthcare access barriers such as race, ethnicity, insurance type and income. As part of the initiative, they deployed Pregnancy+, an app that provides support for Medicaid-eligible users on topics including immunizations, hearing screening, breastfeeding and other information designed to improve the health of mothers and babies.

Health inequities are not only unacceptable, they are also unnecessary. We know the underlying issues and have access to the technologies and interventions to support people in attaining full health.

However, the realization of health equity on an ecosystem level requires not only action, but also the willingness to work together. Making sure no one is left behind will require a collaborative and inclusive approach that also involves listening to and working closely with those bearing the brunt of existing inequities. It also means sharing and being transparent – an approach that may not always feel comfortable in a sector that highly values the protection of ideas and information.

We still have far to go. But what is needed to solve our most pressing health challenges is not more competition, but more collaboration. Every company, in every sector, has a role to play and the ability to adopt a health equity commitment. We'll get there by setting interim goals, measuring progress, and working and learning openly along with our partners and the communities we serve. The GHEN Zero Health Gaps Pledge is a good place to start.