Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 297, Issue 7696, 27 February 1971, Pages 405-412
The Lancet

ORIGINAL ARTICLES
THE INVERSE CARE LAW

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(71)92410-XGet rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

The availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need for it in the population served. This inverse care law operates more completely where medical care is most exposed to market forces, and less so where such exposure is reduced. The market distribution of medical care is a primitive and historically outdated social form, and any return to it would further exaggerate the maldistribution of medical resources.

Cited by (0)