“So remind me again, Alice is now Alex, Katie is Kit and Ellie is what?” When my 11-year-old daughter started at an all-girls secondary school, I was keen to show an interest and tried hard to remember the names of her classmates. I never imagined that three years on I would have to start re-learning their names, as a number took on gender neutral identities and some began struggles with their gender identity. ...more

What does health equity actually mean in the era of modern healthcare? Put simply, health equity is the absence of disparities in healthcare. Health disparities are systemic and avoidable health differences between groups, due to factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic status, religion, and other characteristics associated with discrimination and marginalization. These disparities have existed for centuries, however the COVID-19 pandemic has played a vital role in highlighting and amplifying them. The importance of addressing health inequities and social determinants of health has become clear across many therapy areas, especially as medicine shifts away from a “one-size-fits-all approach” towards patient-centric and personalized care. ...more