Equality of Health: A Global Challenge in HealthCare

Authors; Bwalya Nkonde, BSc nursing student, Novia UAS
Anita Wikberg, Supervisor, RN, RM, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Novia UAS

 Abstract

Equality of health refers to the principle that all people must have equal access to health care services and facilities. This article carries out an in-depth study into the equality of health and illustrates how this standard presents a global challenge, specifically with respect to various contexts that bar equality of health. Further, it outlines several recommendations that would lead to a breakdown of the barriers if effectively applied thereby resulting in a person having equality of health (Norheim et al.,2009).

Introduction

This article discusses and shades lighter on the principle of the equality of health, that is, unambiguously looking at the nature of the principle and outline the various issues that act as barriers. For example, there are issues to do with scarcity in terms of government resources and impact(s) of ethnic and/or racial gap in society as they pose a challenge to the attainment of equality of health (Ruthledge et al.,2001).

What does Equality of Health Intelligence Mean

Biggers (2020) describes ‘Equality of Health’ in terms of equity, that is, ‘Equity of Health’. From the foregoing, the term is meant to imply the state in which everyone is given an opportunity to access healthcare based on their needs. The difference though between the equality of health and equity of health is that the latter focuses specifically on finding solutions tailored to meet the all-inclusive needs of individuals in a specific society or community.

Another important term that is essential to the current topic is ‘Health Disparity’. Health Disparity is defined as the difference that affects a person’s ability to achieve their best healthcare standards (Biggers, 2020). The following are examples of health disparities include but are not limited to race, gender, education, income, disability, geographic location, and sexual orientation. The understanding of health disparities is important to the study of health equality as it outlines the various reasons that make the attainment of health equality difficult.

Some of the reasons that make equality in health a global challenge that cannot be  easily resolved

 The difference in availability of resources at an international (national) and domestic level as explained by the definition of equality of health, is important to note that its core is to improve the health of individuals and end health disparities (WHO.,2019).

Challenges Facing equality in health

The main challenge of achieving equality of health in this regard is the paucity of resources. To expand further, the challenge at the national level is that countries have different gradations of wealth and that is a crucial factor regarding how much resources are directed towards the health sector. An example of this is seen through the budgetary expenditure to the health sector between developing and developed countries as well as developed countries themselves. In the first comparison according to WHO (2019), Sub-Saharan Africa was the only region with a very high Maternal Mortality Rate as 2017, estimated at 542 (UI 498 to 649), approximately while the lifetime risk of maternal death was 1 in 37, compared with just 1 in 7800 in Australia and New Zealand. In the second comparison, the USA has a relative insufficiency of maternity care providers, especially midwives, and lacks a comprehensive postpartum period (Roosa et al., 2020). According to the Data  informatiom from the United States of America for 2005 show that maternal mortality is distributed unevenly among race and national origin groups: it is substantially higher among black or African American women than among white women and Hispanic plus Latina women because of uneven distribution of financial resources (World.,2008).

 Racial and Ethnic Discrimination

 Though they are always undermined, racial and ethnic discrimination plays a big part in the societal gap particularly in the health care systems as they bring about health disparities. American authors Mourey and Williams (2016) indicate that the health disproportions between blacks and whites run subterranean, no matter the age or condition. Adult corpulence rates for blacks are higher than those for whites in approximately every state. They have complex rates of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease than other clusters. African American progenies have five hundred out of a hundred higher mortality rates from asthma paralleled to white progenies. Above all, black grownups with cancer are less probable to endure prostate, breast, and lung malignancy than white grownups.

The aforesaid is not just a health care problem, though, research by (Mourey et al .,2016) .on the 171 largest U.S municipalities found that whites living in the poorest settings in urban zones – in terms of poverty rates and single-parent households -are nevertheless residing in conditions much healthier than those of the typical black person. Herein, it is worth mentioning that if the health care specialists are not ethnically proficient, they might not know about the biological variances, for example, some ethnic groups respond contrarily to medicines and might need higher doses.

 The study of the relationship between race and health care is further explained by the author (Williams ., 2015). revealed that Blacks, American Indians, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, low socio-economic class Asian communities, and Latinos born in the U.S. all fall into an ill-starred classification paralleled with whites, they face ailments earlier, experience diseases more sternly, deal with the hastier progression of ailments and agonise complex rates of impairment and mortality. Lots of these complications start before they even approach the health care system for help. That is because their socioeconomic eminence puts them at a disadvantage. In 2013  blacks earned just 59 percents, Hispanics earned 70 percents and every domestic income dollar earned by whites, The aforementioned economic disparities affect where people live, learn, work, play, and worship and all these factors can in turn influence healthcare access negatively. For instance, if blacks or other non-whites can only afford to live in poorer neighbourhoods, they may face greater exposure to toxic chemicals, or have restricted access to acceptable healthcare or healthy foods.

 Recommendations on how to attain equality of health

The following are recommendations on the steps that individuals, organizations, and countries can take to achieve health equality:

• Firstly: identifying how health disparities in a community affect specific groups, for example, how does health disparities affect low-income earners.
• Secondly, establish a system that recognises that each person has their own racial and ethnic biases and undertake studies that analyse how a policy or environment may exclude a person or group.

• Thirdly, there is a need to have mechanisms in place that are structured to respect all people from all groups and make efforts that involve all groups in passing adjustment. At a grassroots level, this means that if someone is going to start a policy or program that addresses health disparities in society or a particular sector, should ask the people’s views and try to reach them to understand how a particular program will help them.
• Fourthly, in the spirit of efficiency, there is a need to put up mechanisms that provide frequently evaluation of how well policies aimed at health equity are working. To make changes when necessary to ensure these policies are most effective.
• Further, it is important to encourage people to contribute, using their talents, time, and gifts. A modest example could be to include tutoring students to help them obtain their high school diploma or a healthcare professional volunteering to help at a clinic. The following are some additional tools that can be implemented as means to promote health equality. The state, organisations and individuals must work with others to lift healthcare barriers whenever possible (Norheim et al.,2009). revisited the idea of equal health as follows:
• Service to patients receiving care in their mother tongue that promote equality of health are: providing health seminars and courses that unambiguously address the need to analyse any  biased practices that occur to ethnic communities and racial groups; providing low-cost services to those living in a low-income household; implementing the use of mobile health screenings to help those who may not have access to transportation (for example, persons living in rural areas); offering evening or late-night health schedules to those who work long hours and are unable to access healthcare by reason of their working timetable; and finally to providing better education, testing, and treatment access to communities particularly impacted by certain conditions or diseases. To promote health equity, the government and community organisations must acknowledge and attempt to remove barriers to healthcare.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is imperative to note that the matters raised and brought out in this article express a message aimed at attaining the equality of health. This as a goal can be achieved in the world, however, there are several pertinent issues that must be addressed for this to become a reality. Governments are key stakeholders and as such as age burden weighs on them to be proactive and innovative in the way the provision of healthcare services are obtainable to the public. Moreover, as pointed out by (Ruthledge et al.,2001). the struggle for equality in health is in continuous motion. Therefore, there is a need for political will at both a domestic and international level to help in the promotion of access to healthcare for all. This can be done through the implementation or development of laws and guidelines at either a domestic, regional, and international level.

 References

• Biggers, A (2020). Health Equity: Meaning, promotion, and training. medical news today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/article/health-equity  (retrieved 19.10.2021)
• David. R. Williams (2015). Racial bias and its effect on health care. Harvard T.H CHAN (School of Public Health). https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/racial-bias-and-itseffect-on-healthcare/  (retrieved 19.10.2021)
• Mourey R.L, & Williams (2016). Being Black Is Bad for Your Health. U.S. News. There’s a huge health equality gap between whites and minorities.
• https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/policy-dose/article/2016-04-14/ theres-a-huge-health-equity-gap-between-whites-and-minorities (retrieved 20.10.2021)
• Norheim, O.F & Asada, Y (2009). The ideal of equal health revisited: definitions and measures of inequity in health should be better integrated with theories of distributive justice. https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-9276-8-40 (retrieved 20.10.21)
• BMC. Roosa T, Munira Z.G, Molly F, & Laurie Z, Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care in the United States Compared to 10 Other Developed Countries (Commonwealth Fund, Nov 2020). https://doi.org/10.26099/41v-9255  (retrieved 20.10.2021)
• Ruthledge, E. O & Nathaniel, W. Jr (2001). The struggle for equality in healthcare continues. Challenges about health care equality in healthcare.
• https://scholar.google.fi/scholar?q=challenges+about=healthcare+equality+in+healthcare&hl m World Bank indicators [online database]. Washington, DC, World Bank (2008).(http://ddpext.worldbank.org/ext/ddpreports/ViewSharedReport?&CF=&REPORT_ID=9147&REQUE ST_TYPE=VIEWADVANCED&HF=N/CPP&WSP=N)  (retrieved 18.10.2021)
• World Health Organization (2019). Trends in Maternal Mortality from 2000 to 2017.  Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division. Geneva: Switzerland. (retrieved 19.10.2021)