Disparity In Health Care

People often take the glories of modern medicine for granted, particularly those in the United States privileged enough to have health insurance. But though we have the technology and proper medicines, there are still large groups of people who do not benefit from them. A health disparity is “a statistically significant difference in health indicators that persists over time” (Holtz, 2013, p.10). While humankind has achieved many scientific advances, adequately sharing them with the whole population remains a task yet to be completed.
Disease has been the number one cause of death throughout history. Our textbooks reference various plagues, epidemics, and pathogens that have wiped out incredible swaths of people. But in our more recent years,
Therefore, there are many vaccines children are required to receive, such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, tetanus, influenza, measles, mumps, and others between ages zero to six (Haider & Bassa, 2014). However, some parents can’t afford transportation to health care facilities, be it a car and gas or even bus fare (Niederhauser & Markowitz, 2007). This is for natives being born and raised in the country, who may have access to federal programs. But recent immigrants to the U.S. are excluded from these programs, and additional barriers of language and culture greatly affect their children’s chance of receiving vaccines (Schneider & Northridge, 1999). That being said, even parents who are fully aware of what’s expected of them may choose not to have their children vaccinated based on beliefs or past experiences. Schedules that conflict with their careers is also an issue, due to the business of people today and limited numbers of appointment times. These same parents might be ignorant of some aspects of the vaccination process, since the schedules for vaccinations are confusing and easily misunderstood, leading many parents to wonder which shots their children have completed and which ones remain to be addressed (Niederhauser & Markowitz,
Parents who are educated are more aware of diseases, prevention, and have the income to afford it. Of course, income and education are inexorably and increasingly tied together, as those raised in poverty are less likely to receive higher levels of education, and those not getting their children vaccinated may be failing to do so because they can’t afford it. Individuals don’t realize how important it is for their children to receive vaccinations (Holtz, 2013, p.