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Health inequalities in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

Edited by:
Zlatko Nikoloski, PhD, LSE Health, United Kingdom 

Submission Status: Closed

This collection is no longer accepting submissions.


International Journal for Equity in Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Health inequalities in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

We are looking for theoretical, review, and empirical submissions that critically study health system inequality through an interdisciplinary perspective, or focuses on inequalities from the perspective of epidemiology, health economics, health policy, or that applies social science disciplines and methods.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to the following Sustainable Development Goals: 3 – Good Health and Well-being, 4 – Quality Education, and 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation.

Image credit: Â© KasiaJanus / Getty Images / iStock

  1. Lower extremity amputations (LEAs) significantly contribute to mortality and morbidity, often resulting from peripheral artery disease and diabetes mellitus (DM). Traumatic injuries also account for many LEAs....

    Authors: Yazan A. Al-Ajlouni, Mohamed Abouzid, Mohammad Tanashat, Ahmed Ahmed Basheer, Omar Al Ta’ani, Naciye Bilgin-Badur and Mohammad Islam
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:178
  2. To appreciate dental care utilization in ‌the context of socio-economic inequalities, it is imperative to identify sources of inequalities and evaluate the extent to which dental care utilization is still rela...

    Authors: Aydin Joudi, Katayoun Sargeran and Hossein Hessari
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:141
  3. The intensive care unit presents structural complexities, and the prevailing power imbalance between patients and staff can lead to health disparities. Hence, unveiling the underlying factors that give rise to...

    Authors: Sajad Yarahmadi, Mohsen Soleimani, Mohammad Gholami, Ali Fakhr-Movahedi and Seyed Mohsen Saeidi Madani
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:114
  4. The study aims to evaluate the hospitalization diagnoses and nursing diagnoses of the refugee and local population hospitalized in internal medicine clinics, which are especially important in the early diagnos...

    Authors: Neşe Kıskaç, Mahruk Rashidi, Gülay Yıldırım, Abdulkadir Çelik, Burcu Hacıoğlu, Aslı Genç, Sultan Çakmak and Buse Saygın Şahin
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:95
  5. Internally displaced people (IDP) in Iraq are 1.2 million (as March 2023). Protracted refugee status endangers the mental health, especially of minorities who survived persecution and conflict, such as the Yaz...

    Authors: Roberto Benoni, Chiara Giacomelli, Giuditta Vegro, Faroq Hamo, Riccardo Avesani, Pietro Albi, Michela Gatta and Francesca Moretti
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:88
  6. The situation in Sudan have deteriorated since the ongoing war outbreak in April 2023. This article sheds light on the pharmacological status in Sudan in terms of shortage of supply, rising demands, and regula...

    Authors: Lina Hemmeda, Angad Tiwari, Barakat Olajumoke Kolawole, Fathima Shehnaz Ayoobkhan, Kainat Fatima, Moshi Moshi Shabani, Mrinmoy Kundu, NagaSpurthy Reddy Anugu, Riya Mary Richard, Danya Ibrahim and Khabab Abbasher Hussien Mohamed Ahmed
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:54
  7. In the Irbid Governorate, Jordan, equitable healthcare facility distribution is vital to ensuring healthcare accessibility and improving public health outcomes. This study investigated the spatial distribution...

    Authors: Bushra Obeidat and Sally Alourd
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:52
  8. A more equal allocation of healthcare funds for patients who must pay high costs of care ensures the welfare of society. This study aimed to estimate the optimal co-insurance for outpatient drug costs for heal...

    Authors: Shekoofeh Sadat Momahhed, Sara Emamgholipour Sefiddashti, Behrouz Minaei and Maryam Arab
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2024 23:25
  9. There are many dimensions regarding autism that are closely connected to social structures, policies, and power dynamics, silently impacting the well-being of individuals within the autism spectrum. This resea...

    Authors: Ansar Khougar, Paria Baba Ahmadi, Hadi Ranjbar, Mahsa Ahadi and Parisa Ahadi
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:263
  10. This study examined the perceived barriers of migrants and refugees to vaccinating their children against measles and polio in Iran.

    Authors: Amir Nasiri, Hossein Farshidi, Farshid Rezaei, Tahereh Dehdari, Afrouzeh Kazemi, Hamid Rezapour and Massomeh Goshtaei
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:253
  11. Access to essential medicines is a critical component of universal health coverage. However, the availability of essential medicines in Sudan isn’t well studied. As well, most Sudanese people lack health insur...

    Authors: Lina Hemmeda, Abubaker E. A. Koko, Radia F. Mohamed, Yousra Ibrahim Abdallah Mohammed, Abeer Osman Mukhtar Elabid, Alaa T. Omer, Amna Abdel Rafea Al Hashemi Hamida, Aya M. Haiba, Eithar M. Ali, Istabraq I. Abdelgadir, Reem M. Al Fanob, Saja S. Mohamed Almahadi, Sara Ali and Suzan A. A Mahgoub
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:216

Meet the Guest Editors

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Zlatko Nikoloski, PhD, LSE Health, UK

Zlatko Nikoloski is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at LSE’s Department of Health Policy. He is a development econ­omist and his research interests revolve around the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.

More specifically, Dr Nikoloski’s work includes articles on universal healthcare coverage and out of pocket healthcare payments, access to child/maternal healthcare interventions as well as risk factors and the economic burden of non-communicable diseases. He has also significantly contributed to policy work conducted by the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF and UNWOMEN around issues of poverty and access to health.

Expertise Details:
SDGs; access to healthcare; cost of non-communicable diseases; OOP; catastrophic healthcare expenditure

About the Collection

In 2015 the United Nations and the rest of the international community committed themselves to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2030. The said agenda aimed to significantly improve progress towards achieving the 17 agreed SDGs, ranging from reducing poverty and eradicating hunger to improving the environment and institutions across the globe. Needless to say, health (through the SDG3) is at the core of the Agenda 2030. The various targets and indicators within SDG3 aim to improve the overall health outcomes, from reducing child and maternal mortality, to reducing deaths due to consumption of demerit goods (e.g. tobacco and alcohol). Achieving SDG3 also entails acknowledging the interconnectedness and the spill-over effects arising from the rest of the development goals. For example, education (SDG4) is considered as one of the key determinants of health outcomes; while access to clean water and sanitation (SDG6) significantly contributes to reduction in child mortality. Needless to say, progress in achieving, in particular SDG3, has been uneven both, across and within countries, further amplifying the existing health inequalities, both in terms of access to healthcare as well as health outcomes. Against this background, the IJEH is launching a Collection devoted to articles that will shed further light onto some of the inequities in health that exist across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. MENA is a particularly interesting region to study the concept of health inequity as it includes countries at various level of economic development: low income, lower and upper middle income as well as high income countries. Moreover, the region encompasses countries that have emerged, are emerging from or have been significantly affected by conflict, which, doubtless, has an impact on health outcomes. Finally, the region provides ample space for studying the concept of health inequalities through the anthropological lens of gender inequality. This Collection is looking for theoretical, review, and empirical submissions that critically study health system inequality through an interdisciplinary perspective, or focuses on inequalities from the perspective of epidemiology, health economics, health policy, or that applies social science disciplines and methods. Specific areas of interest might include but are not limited to:

(i) Inequalities in health outcomes, both between and within countries. This area could also include work on correlates/determinants of health outcomes, relevant for the region (e.g., the role of conflict, the role of epidemiological transitions and the increasing importance of NCD – non communicable diseases).

(ii) Inequality in access to healthcare as well as barriers to healthcare access that limit progress towards equitable access to healthcare. Some of the barriers could include: the role of education (in particular health education), gendered norms, socio-economic status, migration status. 

(iii) Building on (ii) above, explore the role of healthcare infrastructure (both, physical and healthcare staff) in reducing inequity in healthcare access. Some of the topics could include: the availability of primary healthcare and its role in reaching difficult to reach people, the availability of healthcare staff, including female workers. 

(iv) The role of healthcare financing (both, domestic and international) in reducing the inequality in access to healthcare (and therefore improving health outcomes). 

(v) Health system governance which includes participation of vulnerable groups decision-making, as well as the impact that unstable or failed democracies can have on health systems.

(vi) Inequality in access to medications and medicinal products including the role of new technologies.

The International Journal for Equity in Health and the guest editors would like to promote the inclusion of early career researchers, practitioners, and other non-academic contributors.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes theoretical, review, and empirical submissions. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Health inequalities in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer-review process. The peer-review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.