Health Inequalities

Health Inequalities

Health Inequalities

Introduction

Inequality in health

This is the “term that indicates the universal phenomenon of variation of health by socioeconomic status, i.e. poorer people have poorer health.” (Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. 2004, 122-54)

Gender: the existence of inequality could be explained through gender because statistics show the variation in health of men and women. Women tend to have higher life expectancy and lower mortality than men do. Life expectancy is 'The average number of years a person is expected to live based on a national average per age group, and other factors.'

The gap between women and men life expectancy has continued to increase over the last 40 years. In 1988, the life expectancy at birth of a male was 72years and female 78years; in 2004, life expectancy at birth for a female is 81years and 77 years for males. (Statistics, 2006) This could be because men tend to die and women tend to be ill. There is higher rate of chronic and acute health problem in women than in men; women are able to recognise illness and seek medical attention than men because they are more sensitive to symptoms of illness, due to their involvement in family health. Men consult doctors and report illness less because they are expected to be self-reliant and tolerant, even during pain. (Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. 2004, 122-54) Physiological sex differences could contribute to the higher male mortality rate because men engage in dangerous activities, drinking, smoking, reckless driving, etc, which could cause accidents. Males are also more likely to commit suicide and murder than females. Males are prone to some illness like heart diseases, lung cancer, & stroke, while female hormones are believed to protect them against some diseases, and their foetus have a better survival rate than male foetus. Mortality rate in cancer is also higher in men than women, although both sexes are vulnerable to different type of cancer; in 1995, the Health Education Authority estimated 90 percent of lung cancer among men and 78 percent among women were caused by smoking. The rate of male smoking has been decreasing since 1970, while females' is increasing, this may lead to more premature deaths in future. (Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. 2004, 122-54)

Explanation

Inequality in health exists in ethnicity because of the rate of mortality and morbidity between ethnic groups as it varies from one another. Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. 2004, 122-54 discovered poor health among the ethnic minority in England; it was reported that Black people, (Caribbean, African, Indian and others) seem to have a higher rate of limiting long-standing illness than white people. People from Bangladesh seem to have the highest rate of long standing illness, while Chinese people and other Asian countries have a lower rate of long-standing illness than white people. The rate of infant mortality is higher in the new commonwealth and Pakistan countries than in Britain. Between 1989-1992, the mortality rate for death from all causes for most migrant groups was higher than ...