Health Disparities

Health Disparities
Student Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Date:
Introduction
Healthy People 2020 defines a health disparity as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked to social, economic, and environmental disadvantage. Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group. Religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.”Over the years, lots of efforts have been put in trying to eliminate health disparities and foster health equity with a focus being placed mainly on health, illnesses and health services. However, the problem with this is that the absence of disease does not automatically translate to good health. There are lots of factors to consider especially when it comes to the health of the American people, such as the availability and access to nutritious food, decent and safe housing, non-polluted air and clean water, health insurance (Carter-Pokras & Baquet, 2002).In the coming decade, Healthy people 2020 will undertake their assessment on health disparities with respect to chronic conditions, illness, death, behaviors and other type of outcomes with respect to demographic factors such as race and ethnicity, sexual identity and orientation, geographic location (rural and urban), disability status or special health care needs. This is all in a bid to keep track of the progress in the elimination of gender disparity.Differences in health indicators of various ethnic and racial groups in the United StatesThe following are findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight disparities for selected health indicators known to affect multiple racial and ethnic groups in the United States at all life stages:• Cardiovascular Disease: In 1998, rates of death from cardiovascular disease were about 30 percent higher among African-American adults than among white adults.• Diabetes: The prevalence of diabetes is 70 percent higher among African Americans and nearly 100 percent higher among Hispanics than among whites. The prevalence of diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives is more than twice that of the total population.• HIV/AIDS: Although African Americans and Hispanics represented only 25 percent of the U.S. population in 1999, they accounted for roughly 55 percent of adult AIDS cases and 82 percent of pediatric AIDS cases.• Immunizations: In 1999, Hispanics and African Americans aged 65 years and older were less likely than whites to report having received influenza and pneumococcal vaccines.• Infant Mortality: African-American, American Indian, and Puerto Rican infants have higher death rates than white infants. In 1998, the mortality rate among African-American children was 2.3 times greater than that among white children(Carter-Pokras & Baquet, 2002).Potential causes of these observed differencesCultureCulture plays a vital role in determining health-related practices and beliefs that directly affects peopl...