Search

BACKGROUND: Better understanding and addressing health inequities is a growing global priority. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we contribute to the literature examining complex relationships between biological and social dimensions in the field of health inequalities. Specifically, we explore the potential of intersectionality to advance current approaches to socio-biological entwinements. DESIGN: We provide a brief overview of current approaches to combining both biological and social factors in a single study, and then investigate the contributions of an intersectional framework to such work. RESULTS: We offer a number of concrete examples of how intersectionality has been used empirically to bring both biological and social factors together in the areas of HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, female genital circumcision/mutilation/cutting, and cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSION: We argue that an intersectional approach can further research that integrates biological and social aspects of human lives and human health and ultimately generate better and more precise evidence for effective policies and practices aimed at tackling health inequities.

Many studies are now documenting the circumstances of people living with HIV/AIDS in different parts of the world. We know an increasing amount about the experiences of women who make tip the majority of those infected in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. However, very few researchers have examined the lives of female migrants from the region living with HIV. This article begins to fill that gap by exploring the situation of 62 women from different parts of Africa receiving treatment from the National Health Service in London. It is based on a qualitative study carried out between 2001 and 2002 using semi-structured interviews. The analysis explores the ways in which the women's lives are shaped in complex ways by their sex and gender, by their status as migrants and by their seropositivity. It examines the nature of their survival strategies, focusing mainly on the management of information, the use of health services and the importance of spirituality in their lives. The article concludes by highlighting the paradox whereby these women have access to treatment that would be unavailable in their own countries but their survival depends on them remaining in a country which few regard as 'home'. Keywords: HIV/AIDS: African women; UK

Gender equity is increasingly cited as a goal of health policy but there is considerable confusion about what this could mean either in theory or in practice. If policies for the promotion of gender equity are to be realisable their goal must be the equitable distribution of health related resources. This requires careful identification of the similarities and differences in the health needs of men and women. It also necessitates an analysis of the gendered obstacles that currently prevent men and women from realising their potential for health. This article explores the impact of gender divisions on the health and the health care of both women and men and draws out some of the policy implications of this analysis. It outlines a three point agenda for change. This includes policies to ensure universal access to reproductive health care, to reduce gender inequalities in access to resources and to relax the constraints of rigidly defined gender roles. The article concludes with a brief overview of the practical and political dilemmas that the implementation of such policies would impose. Keywords: Gender equity; Sex differences in potential for health; Gender differences in health risks; Gender inequalities in access to resources; Strategies for gender equity in health