Health and social inequity in Norway

Social inequalities related to health is described with reference to health services, children's health, and common health indicators for the adult population. On all descriptive dimensions it turns out that members of certain social groups are more ill-fated with regard to health and health services than are members of other groups. These results are discussed with reference to the relationship between social conditions and health, and with regard to the questions about what forms of knowledge on this relationship is needed in order to plan efforts to change the existing conditions. Important points that are made suggest that is more important to focus upon vulnerable groups than on social classes or socio-economic groups, and that most of the material available on the relationship between health indicators and social variables is too abstract for use in planning of effective health policies, that at the same time aim at improved health conditions in the population and more equity with regard to distribution of the health burdens.