inverse care law

Last edited 03/2021 and last reviewed 03/2021

The inverse care law is the principle that the availability of good medical or social care tends to vary inversely with the need of the population served

  • the "inverse care law" was proposed by Julian Tudor Hart in 1971
    • states that:
      • 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 The market distribution of medical care is a primitive and historically outdated social form, and any return to it would further exaggerate the maldistribution of medical resources

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