Drivers of inequality in the capability to be alive and to live a healthy life

Inequalities in mortality and health are driven by a range of biological, social, environmental and economic factors. Government policy plays a key role in shaping inequalities in this domain, as policy can ameliorate as well as exacerbate inequalities in health and mortality. This can occur even where mortality rates are falling and average general health is improving. Equal access to high quality health care is a crucial factor which can help to minimise inequalities. Inequalities in mortality are also affected by differences in the protection of individuals from natural disasters and non-natural causes. In this domain we have identified eight main driver categories which cover aspects of healthcare; access to clean water, sanitation and good nutrition; security and protection; harmful social and cultural norms and exposure to accidents, disasters and environmental risks. Your application of the multidimensional inequality framework will have identified the main inequalities within this domain and you should use this analysis along with the guiding questions to help you in the selection of drivers to focus on and, where necessary, you can use this information to add to the main categories provided here.

Explore the main driver categories for Domain 1 to find more detailed information on these drivers, guiding questions for analysis and driver indicators.

Main driver categories

To learn more about these drivers, for a tailored set of questions to help guide your anaysis and for potential indicators to monitor the drivers of these inequalities, click on the main driver categories below.