Health Problem
The healthy People 2020 program strives to eliminate health disparities that currently exist in this country. Tuyoina (2008) defines a health disparity as “Gaps in the quality of health and healthcare across racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups.” According to this scholar, there is a big gap that exists in terms quality of health that Americans receive. Several reports have indicated that the minority groups in this country have constantly been subjected to inferior health services, either due to their economic status, or racial discrimination that had been common in this country in the past years. The government has been keen on fighting this disparity in order to create an environment where every American will be able to access quality health care without considering race, social status, gender, or religious standing. Some chronic diseases such as chronic kidney disease have been common among minorities. This is because of the incapacity of these individuals to meet the cost of treating these diseases before they get to advanced stages.
Healthy People program 2020 seeks to address this disparity with the aim of eliminating all chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease. Several legislations have been passed by the current government which has enabled the poor to access medication despite their economic status. This program seeks to identify the causes of chronic kidney disease among Americans with a view of finding a lasting solution to it. It is through this that the war against these chronic diseases can be fought successfully.
Descriptive Epidemiology
According to Jiene (2011), chronic kidney disease is one of the leading health indicators identified by Healthy People 2020. This scholar says that although there is a spirited fight against health disparities in this country, there are indicators that health disparities still exist. For a long time, chronic kidney disease has been associated with the African Americans, Native Americans, and other minority groups in this country. This has partly been attributed to the lower social class that the majority of these minority groups belong to. As a result of this lower social standing, this group is unable to afford some of the best medications that are offered in the country. Currently, statistics still show that majority of those who are suffering from chronic kidney disease are minority groups. Although there has been a serious fight against health disparities, success is yet to be achieved. The poor who suffer from chronic kidney disease is forced to visit public hospitals which do not have proper facilities like the private hospitals that the wealthier members of this country attend.
Etiology of Health Disparities
It is clear that health disparity in the fight against chronic kidney disease has remained persistent in this country. Fielding (2009) says that it is obvious that the rich can afford more expensive healthcare facilities that can help them fight this disease successfully. One of the main disparities in this fight is knowledge of the disease. Those members of the lower social class in this country lack enough knowledge of this disease. This is not the case with the richer members of this society who understand this disease and know the importance of going for early check-ups. While the rich would go for testing as soon as they suspect that they could be suffering from this disease, the poor would ignore these symptoms until they reach unbearable levels. This creates a scenario where, when the poor get to the hospital and this disease is diagnosed, the stage is always too advanced to be revised. This has defeated this war against health disparities, particularly the fight against chronic kidney disease. One question that stakeholders should ask and then find an answer is how every American can have the right information about this disease.
Public Policy
It is true that the current government has come up with public policies that are clearly set to fight any form of health disparity. The Healthcare Bill 2010 was meant to ensure that every American is able to access affordable healthcare in this country irrespective of financial status. However, this public policy has faced a lot of opposition from some political parties which feel that this money should be channeled to other projects (Peralta & Ronit, 2011). The slow growth of the economy of this country has also impeded the achievement of this policy. The social life of some of the Americans also makes it difficult to win this fight.
For this reason, there is a need to educate the public about this disease. This can be done using public lectures, seminars, or in the forms of advertisement both in the social and mass media. This communication would be custom-made for specific target groups in society. The policies should emphasize awareness. When conducted properly, the health administrators’ policies can impact positively the target group by making them appreciate the importance of early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease and seeking early interventions.
References
Fielding, J. (2009). Healthy People 2020: Improving Our Health Futures. Public Health Institute Web Forum, 10(2), 1-34.
Jiene, K. (2011). Healthy People 2020: A Society Free From Disease. Journal of Health, 13(5), 1-68.
Peralta, A., & Ronit, K. (2011). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Kidney Function Decline among Persons without Chronic Kidney Disease. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 22(7), 1327-1334.
Tuyoina, U. (2008). Diagnosis and management of chronic heart disease: a national clinical guideline. US Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 9(6), 61-117.