An Analysis of Health Inequalities in the UK and Government Responses

This essay delves into the critical issue of health inequalities within the United Kingdom, examining the disparities in health outcomes across different population groups. It identifies key factors contributing to these inequalities, including economic status, geographical location, and social determinants. The essay explores specific manifestations of health inequality, such as variations in life expectancy, avoidable mortality rates, long-term health conditions, and mental health issues. Furthermore, it analyzes the government's strategies to address these disparities, including geographical-based approaches, life-course interventions, ethical considerations, and policies aimed at child poverty reduction. The essay provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and complexities surrounding health inequalities in the UK, highlighting the need for multifaceted and targeted interventions to promote health equity.

CONTEMPORARY
DEBATES

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.......................................................................................................................3
Health Inequalities are a major concern in the UK........................................................3
The government approach to addressing these inequalities........................................5
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
For every individual being healthy is the priority. Every country want its people to be
healthy and fit and contribute more to the country. Health inequalities are a major
concern in the UK. (Out and et.al., 2020.) Health inequalities occur when unfair and
uneven approaches are applied in the health sector. The essay will discuss various
health inequalities in the UK and approaches applied by the government to overcome
inequalities. The essay will evaluate the principal argument for health inequalities
continuing in the UK. The various health inequalities and government approaches will
be analysed in the essay. The different health inequalities are seen in the UK related to
population, gender-biased, social groups, and social status. The health sector is a major
concern for any government.
MAIN BODY
Health Inequalities are a major concern in the UK
Health Inequality refers to unfair variations in the health status of different groups of
people or society in the country. There is a vast break in health issues in the UK, with a
difference of 19 years in healthy life expectancy and developed and undeveloped areas
of the UK. The inequalities among social groups, earning, power, and resources
available at the national and local level have created dissimilarities in the health issue of
people. In the last some years the level of inequality has increased in a large number.
The life expectancy of people in the UK has fallen by a high percentage. ( Currie and
Bray, 2019.) When the gap between people's health status increased it gives rise to
health inequalities. There are some holes in the health care facility people receive and
the possibilities they will able to use that health care facility. The healthy inequalities are
major concerns as it shows the different health status of people, treatment and facility
people uses, quality of treatment and customer satisfaction during the treatment,
personal risk-taking related to health and life- the standard of people. There are various
factors which determine the health inequalities of people like -
 Economic Factor - The UK population is almost 6.66 crores, and every
individual has a different income and earning per year. People with high income

can easily maintain health status, while people with low income are not able to
afford health facilities.
 Geography Factor - The developed area and undeveloped area of the UK,
creates health inequalities. In the urban area, health departments and treatment
facilities are highly developed while in the rural area of the UK, people only get
basic amenities.
 Social Factor - Some people are more concerned about their health, so they
regularly maintain their health by concerning doctors. Some people still ignore
that health is the most important part of life and they should take care of their
health.
Some people are homeless, disable and old age people who cannot take care of
their health by themselves also included in the health inequality. Many such factors
create inequalities or some people face two or more factors to maintain health status.
For example, females in the rural area are ignored by the family in health issues.
Between 2015 to 2017, 852 women died due to cervical cancer. The health inequalities
experience in the UK can be discussed evaluating the following points -
Inequalities in life expectancy - The life expectancy at birth in 2017 to 2019 is 79.4
years for male and 83.1 years for females. The males living in a developed area are
expected to live 9.4 years longer than males living in a poor area. In females, the gap is
7.4 years. (Vestergaard and et.al., 2020.) The life expectancy based on the geographic
area has increased a lot from the last some years. For example, life expectancy in north
England is weaker than in southern England. A city like Blackpool and Manchester have
a lower life expectancy.
Inequalities in avoidable mortality - If the health treatment is not given on time, then it
increases the health inequalities and death rate in the country. Some death cases can
be avoided with proper preventive measures within time. Rich people or a particular

group of people get fast treatment while many people are not able to afford the
treatment and died. They get help from the government, but they should be aware of the
policies of the government.
Inequalities in long-term health conditions - Long-term health conditions cause
inequalities in the UK. People facing long-term health issues are not serious about their
health condition. (Cribb and et.al., 2018. ) Most of the people with long-term issues get
concerns about their health only when there are two or three health issues. People with
low-income experience more long-term health issues.
Inequalities in the mental health - The mental illness health issues are not easy to
determine, as they vary from person to person. Sometimes the mental illness creates
health issues like a person going through depression gets the health issue like anxiety,
illness, and physical harm. (Mattheys and et.al., 2018.) A survey conducted in the UK
shows that women experience more mental health issues than men. People with no
social life suffer more from mental health issues than highly social people.
The government approach to addressing these inequalities
The government aims to make every people in the UK healthy and reduces health
inequalities. The gap between the life expectancy and the undeveloped area is growing
which should be controlled over time. There are many policies and approaches adopted
by the government to reduce health inequalities. (Smith and et.al., 2016.) The national
health services (NHS) in England, works for the better health of UK people and making
efforts to minimize the rate of health inequalities. Here are some government approach
for overcoming health inequalities –
Geographical based approach

The life expectancy of people has increased overall, but looking at the single
sector of health the rate has declined with a large number. The life expectancy in the
poor community is less than the life expectancy among high society. People living in the
undeveloped area spent half of their life in poor health. (Dombey and Bonner, 2020.)
The NHS including local authorities, health care services, and national policies of health
raise the fund of £4.8 billion for extra expenses like ambulatory care alone. In this
approach, health inequality is identified, designed, and then executed with a planned
strategy. It creates a structure for health inequalities that divide the people according to
the place they are living and what health facilities are provided to them by the
government.
Life-course approach
A life-course approach focuses on people's lives using the components social and
cultural to understand the health issue of the person. It includes past and current social,
cultural, and economic factors of a person. (Kuruvilla and et.al., 2018.) It follows the
cumulative and interactive exposure on the life span of the person, indicating health
inequalities. The different model is used to understand the health inequalities,
 Critical Period Model - It asses the life span of a person, with risk factors, and
without risk factors. It also shows that what will be the life after the risk factors
are modified of the person. What changes it will make in the life of the person.
 Accumulation of Risk - The risk involved is assessed, the low-risk factors and
high-risk factors are listed and a chain of risk with the additive effect is evaluated.
For example - if a person smokes and drinks alcohol, the risk of getting a health
issue is more than the people who do not smoke and drink alcohol.
 Health and Disease -If a person already suffering from any health issue or any
disease, the person's life span will be reduced. When there are critical diseases
to a person like cancer, kidney failure then more attention is given to that person.

 Environmental exposure - Environmental exposure means the person is suffering
from health issue due to environments like air pollution cause breathing
problems, noise cause ear problem, or any deficiency by birth. It also includes
any health problems since birth like birth trauma, malnutrition, or polio.
Ethical approach
The government of the United Kingdom is taking different productive steps
towards reducing inequalities in the health care sector, in which has used the ethical
approach for reducing inequalities. Basically, local government tries to make an ethical
environment within its health care sector to motivate or encourage different healthcare
professionals and doctors for never conducting such practices in their workplace or daily
operations which are completely unethical. When a health care professional provides an
excellent treatment to a white person in comparison of black person, then this attempt of
that professional is completely unethical, and this is why the government of UK tries to
reduce this type of inequalities within the health care sector.
Many times, local government of the country runs different campaigns also for
motivating professionals or people for never promoting the issue of inequality within
workplace (Walls, Baker and Parkhurst, 2018). It encourages health care professionals
for following or adhering all the legal and ethical considerations in the workplace,
because it is very necessary for creating an effective as well as an ethical work culture
in the country’s health care sector. Day by day levels of healthy care services are
increasing in entire the world, and this is why it is very important to government of the
UK for reducing issues like; health inequalities in its health care environment for making
its health care system very finest at the global level.
Approach of strict action
The government of the UK is trying to make its health care sector very effective,
and this why its tries to remove those all elements and components from its health care
sector which can affect it very negatively. On the other side, the parliament of country
has formulated different strict laws and regulations as well, in which if any health
professional found while conducting different unethical practices in the health care
environment, then it will be punished or panelised. This strict action of the UK

government is enough for influencing people to do not conduct unethical practices, like;
health inequalities in their daily operations.
In this dynamic and modern world, a patient has very higher expectation from the
health care sector of the UK, and this is why it is very tough task to local government for
providing equal treatment to all types of customers (Adams, 2020). Basically,
government of this country faces many issues in daily live, and this is why it tries to
resolve these all issues at own level. Currently many professionals of health care offer
health care facilities by using health inequality practice for gaining personal benefits,
and this is why recently the UK government has taken decision for directly suspending
such professionals from their existing job role who has conduct any unethical practice in
the health care environment of the UK.
Child Poverty Reduction
About 4 million children live in poverty live in the UK, which is estimated to reach
5 million this year. Most of the children are dying in the UK by starvation, hunger, and
lack of food. Many backward area children face poverty problem. (Children Poverty
reduction in UK. 2019.) The government has introduced a benefits freeze policy,
working with the charity organization including local and national authorities of health to
help families and children with low-income and are not able to purchase the essential
items for living like bread, milk, vegetables, and clothes.
CONCLUSION
By understanding the health inequalities in the UK, it is concluded that health
inequalities are one of the major problems in the country. Various factors determine the
health inequalities like the income of a person, social group of person, people living in a
rural and urban area, and treatment facilities available. There are various approaches of
government to overcome health inequalities like the Life-course approach, Child Poverty
Reduction, Area-based initiatives, Sure Start program, and many more. These

approaches focus on the health of people of the UK and try to reduce the health
inequalities in the country. The main aim is to maintain the good health of the people
living in the UK.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Adams, J., 2020. Addressing socioeconomic inequalities in obesity: Democratising
access to resources for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. PLoS
Medicine. 17(7). p.e1003243.
Cribb, J., and et.al., 2018. Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2018 (No.
R145). IFS Report.
Currie, K. and Bray, I., 2019. Health inequalities, risky behaviours and protective factors
in adolescents: An analysis of secondary survey data from the UK. Public health.
170. pp.133-139.
Dombey, R. and Bonner, A., 2020. A place-based approach to healthy, happy
lives. Local Authorities and the Social Determinants of Health. p.105.
Kuruvilla, S., and et.al., 2018. A life-course approach to health: synergy with sustainable
development goals. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 96(1). p.42.
Mattheys, K., and et.al., 2018. “Treading in sand”: A qualitative study of the impact of
austerity on inequalities in mental health. Social policy & administration. 52(7).
pp.1275-1289.
Otu, A., and et.al., 2020. One country, two crises: what Covid-19 reveals about health
inequalities among BAME communities in the United Kingdom and the
sustainability of its health system?. International journal for equity in health.
19(1). pp.1-6.
Smith, K., and et.al., 2016. Background and introduction: UK experiences of health
inequalities. Health inequalities, critical perspectives. pp.1-21.
Vestergaard, A.H., and et.al., 2020. Social inequalities in life expectancy and mortality in
people with dementia in the United Kingdom. Alzheimer Disease & Associated
Disorders. 34(3). pp.254-261.
Walls, H., Baker, P. and Parkhurst, J., 2018. Addressing trade policy as a macro-
structural determinant of health: The role of institutions and ideas. Global social
policy. 18(1). pp.94-101.
Online
Children Poverty reduction in UK. 2019. [ONLINE] Available through:
<https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/ending-child-
poverty?gclid=Cj0KCQiAw_H-BRD-
ARIsALQE_2OsbLuGUtlDVTCbPq0tbqQV4ClcBkXvhGywCu3QvcsXueZDiPdz
FM4aAgJbEALw_wcB>.