Health Science 2

11/23/22

Written Assignment #2
 Health inequalities happen all around the world. England has one of the largest healthcare

systems in the world. The National Health Service (NHS) is the system that England has. It is

said that the NHS “remains to date a service available universally that cares for people on the

basis of need and not ability to pay, and which is funded by taxes and national insurance

contributions,” (Grosios, K., et el., 2010.).

An inequality that England has is the fact that if a person doesn’t have money or lives in an area

where there is money, they will not receive good quality healthcare. “For most of their lives,

people in the poorest areas of England, on average, have more diagnosed illness over 10 years

earlier than those in the richest areas,” (The Health Foundation., 2022.). For men it is calculated

that they’re life expectancy is higher than a woman. “While inequality in life expectancy is

greater for men than for women, women face greater disparity in the amount of time spent with

diagnosed illness,” (The Health Foundation., 2022.). This means that the more time a woman is

with an illness the shorter their life will be. This also probably pertains to those women who

work in healthcare, taking care of the sick; they also can become diagnosed with a disease that

they were treating and not know it.

Poverty can also play a big role in someone's life expectancy according to the Institute of Health

Equity, “warm homes, nutritious food and a stable job are vital building blocks for health. In

addition to the effect of cold homes on mental and physical illness, living on a low income does

much damage,” (Institute of Health Equity., 2022.). The article also stated that, “if we are

constantly worrying about making ends meet it puts a strain on our bodies, resulting in increased

stress, with effects on the heart and blood vessels and a disordered immune system,” (Institute of

Health Equity., 2022.). Therefore, when we are growing up, we are told not to stress so much it

can cause long term damage.

If you compare England to Switzerland, you’ll see a big difference in healthcare. All residents

pay for their own health insurance. “Even children and retirees must have their own individual

health plan,” (Thelwell, K., 2020.) According to the article the basic level of health insurance is

identical across all Swiss insurance providers, covering expenses such as general check-ups and

treatments, prescription costs, vaccinations, hospital visits and more. A basic healthcare plan

covers around 80-90% of a person’s medical costs,” (Thelwell, K., 2020.)

In conclusion, unless you have the best heal insurance in England or money you don’t really get

cared for or the medicines you need.

 References:

Grosios, K., Gahan, P. B., & Burbidge, J. (2010). Overview of healthcare in the UK. The EPMA Journal,
1(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13167-010-0050-1

Institute of Health Equity. (2022, September 2). Fuel poverty, cold homes and health inequalities in the
UK. Institute of Health Equity. https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/in-the-news/press-
releases-and-briefings-/fuel-poverty-cold-homes-and-health-inequalities-press

The Health Foundation. (2022, August 15). Major study outlines wide health inequalities in England. The
Health Foundation. https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/news/major-study-outlines-
wide-health-inequalities-in-england

Thelwell, K. (2020, June 21). An overview of healthcare in Switzerland. The Borgen Project.
https://borgenproject.org/healthcare-in-switzerland/