Download the final 'Closing the Gap' publication: Taking Action on Health Equity.
This publication contains summaries of what each of the 21 ´Closing the Gap´ partners are doing to address health inequalities in their countries, as well as the conclusions and recommendations of this 3-year initiative.
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Estonia is one of the three Baltic states. Since its independence in 1991, it has undergone significant political and social changes. Due to features characteristic for a transitional economy, the value of Gini coefficient as calculated for Estonia equals 0.372, where 0=perfect equality and 1=perfect inequality (United Nations Human Development Report, 2004).
Discussions on health inequality started in the late 1990s. In 2000, the World Bank Expert Commission asked the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs to carry out a study on inequalities as a prerequisite for an official loan. It resulted in the report “Social Inequalities in Health in Estonia” that triggered further studies and discussions in this area. Subsequently the local NGOs got involved and took this issue further. Although there is no single explicit policy document relating to health inequalities, there are several epidemiological studies as well as national actions aimed at tackling this issue (see details below).
The background information for this entry was collected by the Estonian project partner - Krystiine Liiv of the Estonian National Institute for Health Development.
The following persons also contributed either by participating in the roundtable discussion or by providing their comments independently:
This section provides the key documents on health inequalities published on a national level in Estonia in the past decade.
In this section main tools used to implement and monitor national policies in the field of health inequalities are listed.
In this section key actors that are in a position to have an impact on health inequalities policies, such as ministries, state agencies, universities and/or independent institutes are listed.
Please click here to learn about the databases where you can find a collection of good practices aiming at reducing health inequalities collected in Estonia.
In the course of Closing the Gap, participating institutes have developed Strategic Initiatives outlining further steps that can realistically be taken to tackle health inequalities.