What term describes unfavourable or unjust treatment of a person based on characteristics such as race, age, gender, or religion?

• A. Intellectual Capital
• B. Discrimination
• C. Community
• D. Pervasive

Answer: (B)

Unfair treatment of someone because of characteristics like race, age, gender, or religion is discrimination. This term captures the idea of disadvantaging or denying someone opportunities or care based on these attributes, rather than on individual merit or need. In healthcare, discrimination violates important ethical principles such as justice and respect for persons, and it can create inequitable access to care and worse health outcomes. The other terms don’t express this idea: intellectual capital refers to an organization’s knowledge and skills, community denotes a group of people with shared ties, and pervasive means something widespread. So discrimination is the precise concept for describing unfavourable or unjust treatment based on those characteristics.