Identify and critically review some key debates related to inequalities and health - Essay Example

lities in health between the most and least socially advantaged populations in the UK have been reported in every major report on public health (Black et al. 1980). Presence of huge health inequalities not only within but also between countries is the convincing evidence that socio-economic status seriously influences public health. Thus, life expectancy at birth in wealthier Japan is more than 80 years while in incomparably poorer Sierra Leone it is only 34 years – a difference which is shocking to say the least (Marmot 2005).

However, growing inequalities in health in the UK and other developed and developing countries, coupled with the increasing disparities in wealth and income, have forced many researchers to rethink the traditional narrow approach to exploring the contributors to such situation. Social and economic circumstances have been associated though not as heavily as these days, with health inequalities for many decades. Socio-economic status strongly influences people’s physical and mental health, their use of health care, and mortality rates.

Many recently published works on socio-economic determinants of health inequalities clearly demonstrate that these exist in the UK and elsewhere in the world, even in the richest societies (Krieger et al. 1997). However, none of the existing definitions or even groups of definitions comprehensively reflects the essence of the highly complex and multilateral concept which is health. Probably the most common and widely adopted definition of health is the one suggested by the World Health Organization: “health is positive concept that emphasises social and personal resources, as well as physical capabilities.

It involves the capacity of individuals – and their perceptions of their ability – to function and to cope with their social and physical environment, as well as with specific illnesses and with life in general” (WHO, 1984). Evidently, this definition seeks to emphasize the complexity and