Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Health Inequalities in UK

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

How effective have Government Policies been at reducing Health inequalities in the UK? Health inequalities are present throughout the UK. They are influenced by many factors but Lifestyle and Social Class play a very important role. Health inequalities start early in life and continue not only to old age but pass through subsequent generations. Tackling these inequalities in Health is a priority for the UK Government and it is focused on narrowing the Health Gap between disadvantaged groups, communities and the rest of the Country, but most importantly improving health as a whole. In my essay I will examine these policies into further detail and show how effective they have been in reducing these inequalities. It is thought that in 2004 nearly 1/3 of over 16's in Scotland smoked cigarettes; this is equivalent to 1.3million people, and it was also reported that around 13,500 deaths were caused from smoke-related illnesses. ...read more.

Middle

On the 5th October 2006 the decision was made that an increase on the legal age to buy tobacco from 16 to 18 was going to be put in place. It came after executive statistics indicated that 4% of 13-year-olds and an average of around 15% of 15-year-olds were regular smokers. Even though studies have shown that among 15-year-olds, smoking had declined from a peak in 1996; from both 30% for boys and girls to 12% for boys and 18% for girls the percentages still remain high. Alcohol misuse and abuse also causes health problems throughout. It is thought that it costs Scotland around �2.25bn a year on bingeing, and alcohol-related deaths are at an all time high of 1,500 a year. Scotland has now been ranked 8th in the worlds highest alcohol consumption rate, with statistics of 11.8 litres of pure alcohol per head. With the statistics shown above going up constantly and as it is proven that bingeing, underage drinking and alcoholism all have negative health consequences the UK ...read more.

Conclusion

Those of Social Classes D and E - the poorest of the social groups - are far more likely to be heavy smokers due to the fact they are part of the cycle of deprivation; poverty, poor housing conditions, lack of resources in health and education, and the issue that they are living in an environment where there are a number of risk factors surrounding smoking in which nicotine addiction comes in, but no changes have been put in place because this is seen to be the 'norm' for people of lower social status. Taking all of my points into consideration, I have came to the conclusion that Yes! Government policies have been effective in reducing Health Inequalities in some areas e.g. lifestyle, but as long as there is such a wide gap in Social Class the Health Gap will remain very large and the improvements wanted by the Government won't be met until action is taken to lessen these differences. ?? ?? ?? ?? Health-Prelim Kirsten McMichael ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level United Kingdom section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

3 star(s)

3 Stars - The basic structure and use of supporting evidence is broadly effective in this essay. A logical and well argued conclusion is reached, but not all points were consistently linked to the core question of the effectiveness of policies. in places the style was too informal as well.

Marked by teacher Dan Carter 17/09/2013

Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related AS and A Level United Kingdom essays

  1. Marked by a teacher

    Impact of government policies

    3 star(s)

    Equal opportunities legislation such as the Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Act and the Race Relations Act has essentially changed the way the services cooperate with their officers and the public. Civilianisation - is a process where public service officers are released from doing repetitive administrative work and instead can concentrate on the job they were trained to do.

  2. To what extent have constitutional reforms since 1997 reduced the powers of the UK ...

    The creation of the Supreme Court stopped the link between the government and the judiciary, because in the past the position of Lord Chancellor has been ambiguous, as they have had a role in the cabinet, judiciary and a political party.

  1. Discuss the indepedence of the UK Judiciary

    independent, otherwise the government could use machinery of the state and the judiciary itself to remove such rights. Judicial review is the process in which courts can question the exact legality of the governments actions, without judicial independence it is most certainly difficult to predict how effective the process of

  2. Taoiseach VS Primer Minister

    ? However, Ireland and Britain are both currently in coalition governments and this has a huge impact on the Taoiseachs and Prime Ministers control over their cabinets. For example the current Irish Cabinet is lead by Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, however his party is in a

  1. The comparison of the US President and the British Prime Minister appears from the ...

    the Prime Minister, and thus his power is greatly limited in order to provide accountable government for the United States. The lesser degree of government secrecy and the 'separation of powers' provide, it would appear, a more adequate form of scrutiny.

  2. The election campaign is now more important than long term factors in shaping voting ...

    There is also the view of reinforcement which suggests that newspapers just simple reinforce the views held by their readers but often rely on television rather than newspapers for non-partisan coverage of politics. Agenda setting also shapes voting behaviour as the press are unlikely to have a direct influence on voting but newspaper coverage does help shape the political agenda.

  1. How successful have the UK constitutional reforms been since 1997?

    So overall we see that the HRA is unsuccessful, as it has seen many gaps that people have used to contradict its purpose. The Freedom of information act (effective from 2005): The publics right to see official documentation. This gives the power to see the documentation that the government or organizations have on themselves.

  2. How far was New Labor influenced by Thatcher?

    And by emphasising the unavoidable nature of the change, Blair convinced the electorate, and especially his party, that the Thatcherite economic agenda had brought some benefits. However, when assessing economic policies in more detail we can see that there were attempts to maintain a more traditional Labour approach.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work