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Friday, October 18, 2013

The poor health of the poor

The gap between rich and poor is leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths in Scotland, health experts say. NHS Health Scotland examined 30 years of health trends and found large differences in preventable causes of death across social groups. It revealed that there was little difference in death rates from non-preventable diseases such as brain and ovarian cancer, but large differences in more preventable causes like alcohol-related deaths and heart disease. The common factor suggested for the persistence of health inequalities was social inequalities.

Dr Gerry McCartney, head of the public health observatory at NHS Health Scotland, said: "Health inequalities represent thousands of unnecessary and unjust deaths per year across almost all social groups in Scotland.”

Director of Public Health Science Andrew Fraser said these patterns of death were not inevitable. "The answers lie in tackling the causes of inequalities, and not just the recognised causes of disease. Patterns of death that are evident in this report are the end-points of circumstances that span Scottish life rather than focus on a particular disease group. Prevention is achievable, and inequalities are not inevitable."

Sadly, Socialist Courier would not agree that inequalities are not inevitable. Capitalism creates such inequality and until capitalism disappears, disparities in health will persist. Nor are we alone in our pessimism. Inequality Briefing – a collective project supported by a range of organisations and individuals, on their website states: "Inequality has been growing for the last 30 years. The gap between rich and poor is the widest since the second world war... If current trends continue, we will have reached Victorian levels of inequality in 20 years." It continues: "Inequality has an impact on all aspects of life in Britain today. It means that some families are going hungry, children are left behind. Health and life expectancy of the poor are lower than that of the rich. Social mobility is at its lowest point in a generation and those born into poverty are likely to stay there."






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