This volume has a simple aim: to provide researchers and analysts with a step-bystep practical guide to the measurement of a variety of aspects of health equity. Each chapter includes worked examples and computer code. We hope that these guides, and the easy-to-implement computer routines contained in them, will stimulate yet more analysis in the fi eld of health equity, especially in developing countries. We hope this, in turn, will lead to more comprehensive monitoring of trends in health equity, a better understanding of the causes of these inequities, more extensive evaluation of the impacts of development programs on health equity, and more effective policies and programs to.
