There is growing interest and debate in the area of policy strategies to tackle health inequalities, as well as the impact of health policies and non-health-sector policies on the health of populations. Geoffrey Rose's milestone idea of a population strategy to “shift the curve” has provided key insights for both research and policy on social determinants of health. However, changes that occur both in the overall shift and in the shape of the curve (i.e., in inequality) should also be considered. This article presents a classification of policies and interventions based on all possible outcome scenarios of changes in population health and health inequalities, with examples of real policies.
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