Health disparities are widespread worldwide, and they relate to fundamental inequalities in health status caused by factors such as race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class. Health disparities are categorically impacting women’s lives, and this issue needs immediate intervention to help women in society. This paper, therefore, strives to identify significant health disparities in women, causes, and programs that can be implemented to curb women’s health disparities.
From the readings, the critical gender inequalities among aboriginal populations include lower life expectancy, higher incidence of diabetes, infant mortality, and low birth weight. Unlike in the 1980s, women’s life expectancy was about 75 years (Rose, 2017). Women’s life expectancy in the United States is currently 25 years lower. Infant mortality refers to the death of newborn children (Rose, 2017). According to Rose (2017), there is a high infant mortality rate in the twenty-first century. Cervical and breast cancer are the two most frequent diseases that kill women in the United States. As a result, women in the United States face health issues that require immediate attention.
There are many causes of women’s disparities in the United States. The first cause of women’s health disparities can be linked to poverty. Poor people have no money to regularly go for medical checkups and thus live miserable lives prone to diseases. Ethnicity and race also play a significant role in women’s health disparities. The class readings found that the black tend to have less access to medical services than their counterparts’ white women. As such, black women are denied a chance to get quality healthcare to better and prolong their lives. Older women who cannot handle their activities independently depend on others for their daily activities.
Finally, addressing women’s health disparities prevalent not only in the united states but in the entire world is paramount as women’s lives are concerned. The class reading shows that women’s significant causes of health disparities include poverty, racism, ethnicity, and age. As such, the government needs to put in place strong racism laws to ensure that black women in the United States are given a fair chance to access medical facilities (Su et al., 2022). Moreover, the government must provide universal health coverage to all its citizens to ensure that women from humble backgrounds get access to free or cheap health services.
References
Rose, P. R. (2017). Health disparities, diversity, and inclusion. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Su, Z., Cheshmehzangi, A., McDonnell, D., Šegalo, S., Ahmad, J., & Bennett, B. (2022). Gender inequality and health disparity amid covid-19. Nursing Outlook, 70(1), 89–95. Web.