Inequalities in the UK: Health Inequalities Flashcards
What are the main factors behind health inequalities
Drug use, Alcohol use, Smoking and Diet (Poverty can also be a factor/has a link to these factors)
How much of an issue are drugs in the UK (part of explanation)
It is a massive issue especially in Scotland which has the highest drug death rate in Europe.
A statistic about the prevalence of drugs in the UK
In 2022 it was estimated that 59,000 people were suffering from drug addiction
(Analysis about Drug use and its effect on health inequalities)
Drug use can often be related to your own personal circumstances such as whether or not you are in poverty.
(Analysis about Drug use and its effect on health inequalities) Evidence
A report showed that in 2019/20 56% of people who were in treatment for crack or opiates lived in areas ranked in the most 30% of deprived areas in England.
(Analysis about Drug use and its effect on health inequalities) What does this statistic show?
This shows that being in poverty can have an effect on drug use as the majority of people in treatment for drug abuse were from deprived areas.
A government response to drugs
The scottish government has been putting more funding into trying to solve the issue
Example of a government response to drugs
In 2020 the Scottish Government invested £250,000 into addiction services to try and solve the issue.
How much of an issue is alcohol use in Scotland + statistic about it
Alcohol use in Britain is quite a problem due to their being a drinking culture which promotes binge drinking which can lead to alcoholism. this is shown by the fact that Scots are the most likely to binge drink out of the whole UK (mention side effects in next line)
What does this show (alcohol + health inequalities)
This shows that alcohol as a lifestyle factor can cause health inequalities as people who are drinking due to cultural norms are damaging their bodies and potentially drinking themselves to their grave.
What does this show (alcohol + health inequalities) [give a piece of evidence]
The fact that scots are dying from alcohol use is proven by the fact that alcohol related deaths are almost two times higher in Scotland than in England which shows that it is a large contributing factor to health inequalities
Counterpoint about alcohol + health inequalities
However, poverty can play a role in how much of a detriment alcohol use can be on your wellbeing
Counterpoint about alcohol + health inequalities (evidence)
This is shown by the fact that health scotland said that there were 8x more alcohol related deaths in more deprived areas.
Government responses to alcohol use
However, the government have been trying to prevent this from becoming as much of an issue by introducing new policies such as MUP which was introduced in 2018 and put in place a fixed minimum price per unit of 50p.
Effectiveness of government response to alcohol use
This has been quite effective as since its introduction alcohol deaths have decreased by 13.4% which shows that these policies are having an impact.
Why is smoking so prevalent in the UK?
Due to past beliefs of the older generations that smoking wasn’t bad for you which has lead to numerous people still smoking in the present.
Evidence that smoking is a factor in health inequalities
This is shown by the fact that 16% of deaths in the UK are a result of smoking.
Another piece of evidence that smoking is a factor in health inequalities
It has been found that smoking is the largest preventable cause of cancer
Analysis point about smoking’s influence on health inequalities (linked to poverty)
However, smoking is more likely to become a factor in health inequalities when someone is in poverty
Evidence of poverty’s link to smoking’s effect on health inequalities.
By 2021, 32% of people living in scotland’s most deprived areas smoked in comparison to only 6% of people smoking in the least deprived areas
Counterpoint about smoking’s influence on health inequalities (linked to government responses)
However, it could be argued that smoking has become less of a factor when it comes to health inequalities in recent years.
An example of a government response to smoking and it’s effectiveness in dealing with health inequalities
For example, the smoking ban in 2006 has caused the prevalence of smoking to drop from 31% to 21% in 2016 which shows that smoking has become less of a factor in health inequalities in recent years but is still present.
Evidence of diet being a factor in health inequalities
This is shown by the fact that in 2021 over a million people in the UK were admitted to hospital for health problems related to obesity
Why is diet/obesity such a huge issue
This is because of the amount of sugar in cheap foods that are readily available to the public
