Health Disparities In America

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), health disparities refers to a population-specific difference in the presence of disease, health outcomes, quality of health care and access to health care services—that exist across racial and ethnic groups (NCSL,2011). Health disparities remain a major concern in America and it is like a virus that is damaging the progress towards healthcare equality. Some of the major factors are unequal social class, unequal economic opportunity and poor physical and environmental conditions. Furthermore, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and geographical locations also play a role in health disparities. Many of the people impacted by health disparities are minorities who represent 34.5% of the U.S population according to the 2010 U.S Census Bureau estimate. Despite the high population of minorities, some minority groups like Blacks American, American Indians and Alaska Natives had been reported to have poor health outcomes due to the health barriers and biases (Artiga, 2016). Blacks, American Indians and Alaska Natives have a higher prevalence of asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease than the general population of people with these conditions.

In regards to the gender factor in health disparities, we see both genders being treated unfairly. Since the struggle for women rights in America, we have successfully seen a decrease in income gap between men and women. Everyone has some protected rights under the law despite their gender. However, women have not fully been granted autonomy over their body and their healthcare choices. About fifty percent of female adolescents in America do not have autonomy under the law to access reproductive healthcare services that address and prevent some of the negative consequences associated with adolescents (Gretchen,