INTRODUCTION

Barbados, like most other countries in the Caribbean, is facing challenges in delivering healthcare and public health services as a result of factors such as increasing demand, budget cuts, shifting foci and health-worker retention (1–3). As seen throughout the world, an outcome of these challenges is that health equity can be lessened and efforts to do away with systemic inequities may be compromised (4–7). International agencies such as the World Health Organization and Pan-American Health Organization encourage undertaking measures to do away with health inequities (8, 9), and thus it is incredibly important for countries such as Barbados to prioritize health equity in policy and practice agendas.