Gender Inequalities in Healthcare in New Zealand - Essay Example

Gender inequalities in healthcare in New Zealand Introduction It has been observed that in countries, which have a colonial past, the health conditions of its inhabitants have left much to be desired. This is also true in the case of the health conditions prevalent in New Zealand. Here it has been seen that the men have higher mortality rates than women, while women have poorer mental health. This has been due to the impact of several physical, psychological, and sociological reasons, primary among which are the roles assigned to women, their social position accorded by society and other significant factors like income levels, education, access to safe housing and infrastructure and the social environment in which they live. Both sex and gender differentiation has a direct repercussion on individual health. While sex refers to the biological distinction between men and women, that is the cause of reproduction, the word gender is taken in its larger social context, which refers to the social status attached to men and women in order to effect categorization on socially and culturally accepted lines. This gives rise to an unequal distribution of resources between men and women In order for the inequalities to reduce, it is also equally important to reduce the income inequalities between the two sexes since this is the main factor, which gives rise to inequalities in health care. The present health care system in New Zealand systematically and severally prejudices against people, especially women with low incomes and thereby, obstructs them from having the same level of health care that is available to people in high income groups. Research review: Contribution of causes of death to the income SII, ages 25–77 years, by sex (Decades of Disparity II: Socio Economic Mortality. 1981- 1999. P. 98). As is seen from the above chart, CVD mortality is a major factor to the income gradient for both the male and female genders. Among the males, the CVD is a major cause of mortality whereas in the case of women, the factor or CVD has declined over the years, mainly due to the fact that in New Zealand, the number of older women have reduced significantly over the years. However, the contribution of Cancer has had a distinct propensity for both the men and women to increase and it would be safe to assume, that for females cancer has occupied a more significant place than CVD. Cases of injury could also be seen to be a major cause for mortality among young males but not for any other female- age group. The inequalities in health could be seen from the following aspects Cardio-vascular diseases: In this case, the absolute inequality was regular until the year 1991/94 after which it declined by 15 % in the case of men and 40% in the case of females respectively. Ischaemic Heart Diseases (IHD) This disease accounts for ¾ of the totals in the case of men and 2/3 in the case of females. In the case of IHD, the relative inequalities increased for men in all age groups but for women it was in the age group 45-59 years. However, this was to stabilize in the case of women in the age group 60 -77 years. Strokes: There is a perceptibly inequality in the stroke mortality which is greater in the cases of men especially in the older age categories. Chronic lung disease: In the case of men, the rates have shown substantial decrease over a period of time among all the income groups, however, in the case of females, this has been stable. It could be said that while the absolute inequalities have remained constant, yet the relative inequalities have increased over time. Cancer: it could be said that in the case of women, cancer has become a major cause of mortality surpassing Chronic Heart Disease. Among men, only the high income groups showed lower rate of cancer mortality over the period of time, however, in females, the lower incomes actually had increasing mortality rates, the middle income groups in females had stable rates and the high income groups had lowered rates Lung cancer: The incidence and rates of lung cancer showed absolute inequities in men rather than in women and this has increased over time compared to the rates for women. Colorectal cancer: The incidence of colorectal cancer in females has decreased since the 1980/1990, but the rates for males has increased in lower income groups. Recommendations: The Government of New Zealand is committed to reduce the inequalities in health care sector, at both the social and economic levels. It has come forward with newer and effective programmes to grapple with the disadvantages and constantly endeveour to alleviate the inequalities in the present heath care systems. This rises primarily due to educational and income diffentiations between men and women which give rise to better health care facilities being given to rich while the underprivileged and marginalized section of New Zealand society have to cope with lower and non-standardized level of health care services. The New Zealand government wished to improve the health standards for all sections of the society. It encompasses a wide range of sectors such as primary health strategy, adult literacy programmes to provide real time education to the population, both young and old, crime-fighting programmes so that loss of lives and properties could be minimized and many aspects arising out of unemployment could be tackled more firmly and effectively. Within the Ministry of Health (MoH) the real tools have to be implemented for reducing the health inequalities that continue to plague the health care sector and an interventionist programme and health care assessment tools are implemented. This is in order to improve the current health standards of the population of New Zealand, and also, subsidise the present system so that even the gender discrimination in the society is eliminated. Quality health care for all needs to be the motto of the health department and all efforts and energies need to be channelised in order to achieve this programmed target In the contest of health care, the significance attached to a major disease, cancer, needs to be reinforced. Since cancer is a disease that could strike anyone, irrespective of age, gender or income levels, it is necessary to augment resources and machineries in order to take prophylactic and preventive measures to arrest this disease at its outset, and thus save a large part of the population from the scourge of this life crippling disease. The government needs to also taken into account the palliative management aspects of this disease in situations where the disease has firmly entrenched and where the curative aspects of the disease cannot be prescribed. Research Needs: In the present context, it needs to be emphasised that the present research on the subject of gender inequality needs to be empirically supported and detailed cause and effect studies needs to be taken up for the alleviation and elimination of factors responsible for the present inequalities in the system. It is also necessary to conduct empirical studies regarding the mutual gender impact on the health care system prevalent in New Zealand and how it impinges upon the total health care delivery system in the country. Conclusion: The causes for the gender inequities have been primarily attributed to educational inadequacies , income differentials , social economic disparities and absence of conducive social environment which could nurture good health and better working abilities. Therefore, in order to address the problem, it is first necessary to strike at the very roots of the problems and with the help of local governments, quasi-Government , NGO’s and other agencies and organizations , formulate policies that could be evolved into better health care industry practices. However, all this could not be done immediately and needs to be evolved slowly into the system in order to render long-term benefits. The need of the hour is to institutionalize plans and programmes that could render long-term benefits to the present health care standards in this country and seek to alleviate the sufferings of the patients through better resource allocation and patient management programme. There also needs to be set into place, a set of options that could reduce the impact of low incomes on health. It also needs to promote the execution of interventionists methods and strategies that are aimed at maintaining the present income levels of patients who contract chronic diseases, so that the dearth of funds do not intervene in the betterment of their conditions and their road to recovery. The present gender bias also needs to give way to better constructive programmes and policies that could aim at reducing the gap between the genders or income levels that could result in better patient- health care specialist relationships and could lead to all round growth and development of the health care sector in New Zealand. Works Cited Decades of Disparity II: Socio Economic Mortality. Trends in New Zealand. (1981-1999). P. 98. Read More