Health gap grows

Issue 

Health gap grows

By Marina Cameron

Recent medical studies have confirmed that the single most important health issue worldwide is the growing gap between rich and poor. Health inequalities are widening alongside income inequalities, both within and between countries.

The rich are getting richer. The assets of the worlds 358 billionaires now exceed the combined annual incomes of countries that contain 45% of the worlds people. And the poor are getting sicker.

Previously curable diseases are returning, and new epidemics are emerging. While AIDS and the ebola virus get most of the media coverage, clear evidence of the link between health and growing poverty lies in our own backyard.

A study reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on February 24 found that, between 1985-88, life expectancy for males born in the affluent area of Ku-Ring-Gai in Sydney was 77 years, compared to 72 years for males born in the working-class area of Blacktown. By 1990-92, however, males born in the wealthier area had a life expectancy of 79 years, while those in Blacktown remained at 72.

Another study reported in the same article found that men in manual occupations were at least 35% more likely to die from coronary heart disease than professionals.

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