Global health systems remain far from achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3): "To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages", and SDG 10: "Reduced inequalities". Progress has been made in many areas, notably in increasing life expectancy, reducing maternal and child mortality, and fighting communicable diseases. However, progress has stalled in some areas and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has devastated health systems and communities, threatening the reversal of decades of work.
Simultaneously, in 2020, the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, by a white police officer in the USA, sparked a fresh wave of international protests against police brutality and racism. The death of George Floyd and other black Americans has catalyzed the exposure and discussions around deep-rooted injustices and systemic racism. Health systems are not immune and there is strikingly clear evidence of institutional racism, other forms of discrimination, and inequities in healthcare, globally.
In 2020, Health Systems Global called upon the health services research community to consider how we can re-imagine health systems for better health and social justice. In support of this, and SDGs 3 and 10, BMC Health Services Research has launched a collection to curate innovative research broadly examining the environmental, political, and social factors that perpetuate health inequities and social injustices in health systems. We encourage submissions covering the following topics:
- Accessibility and affordability of care
- All forms of prejudice, discrimination, and marginalization
- Corruption
- Freedom of movement and borders
- Health disparities
- Health policy, politics and power
- New technologies, artificial intelligence, and big data for combatting health inequities
- Quality of health services and meeting the healthcare needs of people facing discrimination and marginalization
- Resource distribution
Research may focus on specific marginalized population groups, such as indigenous populations or ethnic minority groups.
Submission guidelines
This collection welcomes submissions of Research articles, including systematic reviews, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, on the topic of health inequities and social injustices in health systems. Unsolicited narrative reviews will not be considered, as per the journal's policies.
Data sets and descriptions relevant to the collection will be considered in BMC Research Notes as Data Notes. You can find out more about this article type here. This type of content will be published in BMC Research Notes and included in the final collection.
Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process overseen by our Guest Editor, Magdalena Szaflarski, PhD (University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA).
Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have carefully read the submission guidelines for BMC Health Services Research. Please ensure you highlight in your cover letter that you are submitting to a collection and select the collection in the submission questionnaire in Editorial Manager.
Please visit this page to find out more about the discounts and waivers we can offer on article-processing charges to authors lacking funds. Members of Health Systems Global can also claim a 20% discount on our article-processing charges, more information can be found here.
Submission deadline: 28th May 2022