In order to accomplish this work, data were collected from published studies because the methodology used was the systematic review of medic literature. Such researches provide higher level of evidence according to the scientific community, as they review all previously published studies on a particular theme by bringing together all the accumulated scientific knowledge so they can respond to a specific research question. Furthermore, the quality of these studies is assessed as to determine objectively which studies should be taken into account and those which should not.

Ethnic Inequalities

The UGR researcher points out that over 80% of the papers published on ethnic inequalities so far, show that ethnic minority populations access health services related to controlling their disease with greater difficulty, and 85% of the articles on socioeconomic inequalities agree that people with lower socioeconomic level control their disease worse than the rest of patients.

Furthermore, if these inequalities exist in the treatment of diabetes, it would not be surprising to think that they also may exist in the case of other chronic diseases like AIDS, cardiovascular or mental health related diseases. Ultimately, according to the author of this research, "given that social inequalities in health care are unnecessary, unjust and avoidable, results of this study should be taken into account by politicians and health managers to implement social sanitary policies aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating these disparities."

Ignacio Cabello Ricci notes that these results could be somehow "the tip of the iceberg of social inequalities in world health" because, if it is already worrying the existence of inequalities in economically more developed countries that enjoy universal health coverage, "the situation of other countries must be much worse."

Source: University of Granada