Health Disparities

In New Zealand society there many are people who encounter with Health disabilities and issues that do not only impact their wellbeing but also their lives. However the majority of them cannot control their Health situation due to their lifestyle, in addition to this problem the distribution of Health services contribute to the creation of ‘Health Disparities’. In this essay I will classify Heath Disparities in New Zealand from a Marxist perspective, where it will become visible that Health inequality within our country lies in the structure of society. However our society is constructed through social stratification which is the process where people are classed in the hierarchical system; based on superiority and subordination (Llewellyn,
I will focus on how Marxist’s perspective integrates the structure of capitalism and social class in society where it influences Health in New Zealand.

Inequalities within health are distinguished between different population groups, where there is variance in a group’s health or health care (Reid & Robson, 2006). This is caused by gender, ethnicity, age, environment and economic status (Howden- Chowden, 2005). Health disparities in New Zealand conflict with the structure of society, however it is logical that in order to have an impact on society we must hold power (Dew & Kirkman, 2007).This brings us to the Marxist perspective where Karl Marx (1818-1883) focused his research on the development of capitalists (Cree, 2010). The rise of capitalism originated from the modes of production, which relates to the
The class structure consists of two main levels which are Bourgeoisie; the highest class that contains capitalists and individuals who hold power. The Proletariat class is for workers in production, and who have no power (Joseph, 2006). Health services within New Zealand are distributed unevenly where it benefits the wealthy (Bourgeoisie) and excludes others such as the Proletariats (Dew & Kirkman, 2007). Although health services in our society are available for everyone’s use, it is imbalanced within the quality. For example individuals in the upper class have access to higher quality services, such as private insurance and specialists (Dew & Kirkman, 2007). However through research it has become more apparent that workers have the highest exposure to ill health (Howden- Chowden, 2005) this means they need this service more than others but it is not affordable. The gradients of avoidable and unavoidable death rates are very different; Proletariats have high rates within avoidable deaths, this means that the majority of deaths could have been avoided through medical consultation. As for the Bourgeoisie class it is at high rates of unavoidable deaths, although they’ve received quality treatment it cannot be cured (Dew & Kirkman, 2007). Inequalities within social class have different influences on an individual’s health, in particularly the quality of health provided for each