The World Health Organization

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Recommended: Potential barriers in equality and diversity in healthcare

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing guidance on global health matters, modeling the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and observing and assessing health trends (World Health Organization). According to WHO, health is defined as “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely absence of disease or infirmity.” The definition of health provided by WHO is one that is derived from the Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference. The definition has not been amended since 1948. According to the definition, it means human beings are considered truly healthy if they are mentally, physically and socially well; not merely just being absent from sickness and disease. In the United States (U.S.), women have access to health care, regardless of income or social stature. The health care law, also known as the Affordable Care Act, protects women from discriminatory health insurance practices, makes health coverage more affordable and easier to obtain, and improves access to many of the health services women need, (Women and Health, 2013). Even though women in the U.S. have better access to health care, they still face some inequalities when attempting to afford the care they need. Women are often faced with unfair insurance practices, such as being deprived of coverage or are expected to pay more for health insurance than men. Regardless of that fact, many individual market health plans frequently omit coverage for services that ... ... middle of paper ... ...D., National Women’s Law Center, Turning to Fairness: Insurance Discrimination against Women Today and the Affordable Care Act, (March 2012). George, E. [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.pih.org/blog/women-still-face-big- gaps-in-access-to-health-care Sculy, G.W. (2002). Economic Freedom, Government Policy and the Trade-Off between Equity and Economic Growth. Public Choice 113, 1-2: 7–96. Sen, A. (1990) More than 100 million women are missing, New York Review of Books, 20 December, pp. 61–66. Stroup, M. (2011). Does economic freedom promote women’s well-being?. Economic Freedom of the World, 179-190. Women and health care law in the united states. (2013, May 16). Retrieved from http://www.nwlc.org/resource/women-and-health-care-law-united-states World Health Organization. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.who.int/suggestions/faq/en/index.html

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