Health Equity

Infant Mortality  

Human beings have the right to health but in order to ensure that individuals have access to quality health care, the public health workforce should promote health equity and social justice.  In many countries, individuals are suffering from health disparities and lack of equity as a result of poverty, powerlessness, discrimination, race, ethnicity, and sexual identity, among other genetic and biological factors, and social and economic conditions (Braveman, 2014).  Health equity means that all human beings regardless of age, gender or sex should receive equal treatment.  The article by Brown et al, (2017) reports that health equity is a topic of discussion since there is Black-White infant mortality gap in the U.S.   Despite a 13% decrease of infant mortality rate that was noticed in 2000 to 2013, there are racial disparities among African Americans.  The higher rate of infant mortality is as a result of social, economic and structural factors (Brown et al, 2017).  Despite the national effort to eliminate health disparities,   African American continue to suffer from racial disparity.

  The article points out that studies and researches on health disparity have done a significant role in identifying and analyzing the risk factors for health disparities.  However, the studies have not put concern on the need to eliminate disparities.  There are very different patterns of infant mortality in Black and White communities since disparities in the African American community is worsening compared to white communities where individuals are enjoying equity and equality (Brown et al, 2017).  The article used an evidence-based approach to prove the gap that exist between African American and White infant mortality. In conducting the study, cohort files were used to derive data of infant mortality rate in state-level from 1999-2013 (Brown et al, 2017). The purpose of this study was to show an equitable reduction. The results showed a gap between Black and White infant mortality rate especially in States like Arizona and Massachusetts. For example, from 1999 to 2013, 64876 babies died in 35 African American States (Brown et al, 2017).  The major findings from the study were that   States employed strategies to eliminate Black infant mortality but there is no effort to address the issue of Black-White disparities. Even though the State is working hard toward solving the issue of Black infant minority rate, there is variation in progress toward achieving equitable outcomes.  The solution to this problem is addressing the Black-White gap in order to achieve equity and equality in the future.

 

The article contains actual points that would be better articulated by health equity. First, the article states that the higher rate of Black infant mortality is as a result of pathological causes such as low birth weight, and prematurity (Brown et al, 2017).  Other upstream and downstream factors such as socioeconomic stress, lack of adequate nutrition, exposure to risk factors, and lack of access to quality care, poverty, limited education, and lack social capital contribute to the higher rate of infant mortality rate.  These factors show that health equity is an issue of concern because the health of African Americans is getting worse over time. There is a need for social justice to eliminate the gap between the advantaged and less advantaged groups (Brown et al, 2017). The article clearly shows that the health difference or lack of equality between Black and White communities is linked to economic and social factors such as gender identity, ethnicity, gender, geographical location among other characteristics.  African American pregnant women lack prenatal care, good nutrition, and lack of quality health care due to the highlighted factors.

 The article has shown concern in promoting health equity by stating that there is a need for a multidimensional approach or in other words a multilevel intervention. The article puts emphases that the approach should be directed toward strengthening the Black communities to promote equitable outcome and eliminate social and economic inequalities (Brown et al, 2017).  In addition, there is a need for effective partnerships and multi-sector collaboration in addressing the issue of infant mortality rate.  Different stakeholders such as the health care organizations, community-based organizations, justice agencies, education sector, and public health agencies among other agencies should combine skills and provide resources to promote health equity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 References

 

Braveman, P. (2014). What are health disparities and health equity? We need to be clear. Public

health reports, 129(1_suppl2), 5-8.

 

Brown Speights, J. S., Goldfarb, S. S., Wells, B. A., Beitsch, L., Levine, R. S., & Rust, G.

(2017). State-level progress in reducing the Black–White infant mortality gap, United

States, 1999–2013. American journal of public health, 107(5), 775-782.