New Tool to Measure Health Inequalities

Health inequalities refer to unjust and avoidable differences in the health status of populations. Beyond biological variations, these gaps reflect structural conditions that unevenly distribute resources, exposure to risks, and the capacity of health systems to respond. Therefore, they represent one of the main challenges for public health and sustainable development at the global level.

In this context, the Organización Panamericana de la Salud (PAHO) developed the Health Inequalities Quantifier (HIQ), an innovative digital tool created in collaboration with the National Center for Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health of Peru. Its objective is to facilitate the measurement, analysis, and systematic monitoring of health gaps among different population groups.

The HIQ provides an interactive environment that allows users to visualize disaggregated data, generate comparative analyses, and support evidence-based decision-making. In this way, it helps identify inequities, guide fairer public policies, and advance toward social justice and universal health coverage

🔗 The tool is available at:
https://opendata.paho.org/es/ods3/cuantificador-desigualdades-salud

🎥 Introductory video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnrW_2fgLRc&t=4s

The launch of the HIQ adds to an international ecosystem of tools designed to measure and analyze health inequities. Among them are initiatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other multilateral organizations that promote the systematic monitoring of gaps through disaggregated data, standardized metrics, and comparative visualizations.

Some relevant tools include:

Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) – developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the interactive analysis of health inequalities:
https://www.who.int/data/inequality-monitor/assessment_toolkit
EquityTool – an initiative supported by partners such as United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which enables the classification of socioeconomic status in health studies and programs
https://equitytool.org/

Together, these platforms strengthen countries’ technical capacity to better understand inequalities, monitor their evolution, and design interventions aimed at reducing them.

New Tool to Measure Health Inequalities

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