Equity in mental health

The aim of this paper is to discuss the study of equity in mental health contexts. We review major principles and theories of distributive justice, covering various disciplines such as ethics, philosophy, economics, medicine and sociology. Recent literature on empirical analysis of inequalities in the mental health field is also reviewed. The review of literature reveals a general lack of debate on equity principles in relation to mental health. Robust empirical evidence on inequalities in the field is also scarce. There is need for better exposition of the relevance of different equity principles for mental health policy and practice. There is also a need for developing standardised methods for the empirical analysis of equity, to examine the distribution of psychiatric morbidity and use of services by income, socio-economic group, ethnicity, gender and place of residence, and, of course, to examine how equity can be promoted. (author abstract)