Who Gets to Be Healthy? An Article on Health Disparities By: Seth Carnes

 Somewhere across the United States, a twenty-six-year-old woman sits alone in her car

outside a Michigan abortion clinic. After driving six hours, she waits for an appointment she

never imagined she would need. Having scheduled an abortion months in advance of the recent

laws made in Kentucky, which declared abortion to be illegal, Kelly’s aspirations of becoming a

mother one day were brought to a halt. The cancer treatments (radiation therapy) would only

harm the fetus, and inevitably choosing not to follow through with the treatments would harm

herself in the process. Further down south, in the heart of South Carolina, an African American

male must refuse access to diabetes testing as the insurance he has cannot cover the payment

hospitals demand they’re given. While his family is linked to having a presence of diabetes

throughout generations, Michael must sit with lingering thoughts of whether or not he will suffer

the same injustice his parents, grandparents, and their parents did before him. Lastly, a

nine-year-old girl born in Guadalajara, Mexico, had recently immigrated to Texas with her

family in search of better opportunities. Due to the little girl's upbringing, the air quality of

Guadalajara had caused many asthma attacks. Because of their recent departure from Mexico,

Marley and her parents must wait 5 years before they are eligible for certain federal benefits,

pressuring her parents to work twice as much at their low-wage, physically demanding jobs in

order to afford her inhaler. While the characters themselves may not be true, the circumstances

each one of them faces are prominent in our world today. These stories represent what experts

call health disparities. Health disparities are preventable differences in health and healthcare

caused by social, economic, and environmental disadvantages. The unfair circumstances force

people to plead and beg for the healthcare they deserve. These disparities have ultimately created

a division within our nation. A division that affects more than just people on the other side of the

country, more than just a minority that are considered “lazy” or “entitled”, a division that affects

you.

Health Disparities can be defined as health differences associated with a social

disadvantage, negatively affecting socially marginalized groups. Some of the many reasons for

disadvantages can stem from economics, gender, religion, migrant status, ethnic group, or sexual

orientation. The definition itself is created from an ethical standpoint. At its core, the issue is one

of fairness. Everyone deserves access to clean water, safe living conditions, and quality

healthcare regardless of who they are or where they live. In an article written to define the term

of health disparities, Paula Braveman mentions the usage of the human rights principle of both

nondiscrimination and indivisibility. Braverman explains, “The human rights principle of

nondiscrimination prohibits not only intentional interpersonal discrimination but also unintended

or structural biases ... all rights are intrinsically interconnected and that no single right, such as

the right to healthcare, can be realized without the realization of all other rights”. Braveman

argues that for people to recognize and uphold one right and not all is hypocritical and ergo

violates the principles and rights that everyone deserves.

For the socioeconomic circumstances that people across the world face, countries have

gathered in search of a solution. Each time countries discuss possible answers, ethics is the

center point of debate. The term health equity refers to everyone being given a fair and just

opportunity to be as healthy as possible. In order to achieve such justice, poverty, discrimination,

transportation, and other obstacles must be removed or diminished for a change to occur.

Research from the Sol Price School of Public Policy found that women across the U.S. report

mental illness at significantly higher rates than men, with a difference of 8.2%. Experts believe

that the social stigma discourages men from seeking help, leaving mental illnesses within men to

often go unnoticed. Additionally, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that states with large

populations of African Americans, usually from the South, see a higher disproportionate rate of

uninsured people. The large gap is due to the lack of Medicaid coverage within states with a

diverse demographic.

As previously mentioned, countries around the world have worked hard in finding

solutions to weaken the negative impact that health disparities have formed in our world.

Examples of this are the signing agreements such as the WHO Pandemic Agreement, UN

Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, and WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Mandeep Dhaliwal recently wrote in an article that in the month of June, governments will

gather at the United Nations to discuss and explore a new political declaration on HIV and AIDS

that involves the creation of a new drug. With the success rate of the drug being 96%,

governments around the world are now facing one challenge: creating access. Dhaliwal explains

that access to this drug is vital for young people who are afraid of judgment, gay people whose

only option is through healthcare where they won’t be denied service, and mothers who cannot

store medication in their homes. Although governments play a major role in reducing health

disparities, meaningful change also depends on everyday people. So what can we do in the next

moment to help combat the system that doesn’t work for all? For starters, what you are doing

right now, reading online articles about the topic, is huge. Pushing the agenda to reach

communities of people who either face or are at risk of facing health disparities can help spread

the knowledge of what health disparities are. Raising health literacy in communities affected by

the discussion opens the pathway for people's voices to be heard and no longer silenced.

Additionally, providing resources such as food or clothing donations to local clinics, or

volunteering with communities that typically have fewer healthcare facilities, such as ethnic

groups, rural, and low-income communities, can help providers better serve people in these

areas. I currently volunteer at a clinic within my community that provides free medical care and

prescription medication to low-income, uninsured adults, living in my county. Through this, I’ve

been able to experience first hand what good healthcare is. Good healthcare isn’t solely about the

scientific breakthroughs, but whether people can access those breakthroughs for themselves.

Kelly. Michael. Marley. Whether fictional or real, there are millions of Americans who

share experiences like theirs every day. Health disparities are not problems that exist somewhere

else. They shape the lives of our neighbors, classmates, coworkers, and families. Understanding

them is the first step toward building a healthcare system that serves everyone equally.

Work Cited

Braveman, Paula. “Health Inequalities, Disparities, Equity: What’s in a Name?”

American Journal of Public Health, vol. 115, no. 7, June 2025, pp. 996–1002.

https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2025.308062.

https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308062

“The End of AIDS Is No Longer a Question of Resources, but of Political Will and

Humanity.” UNDP, 2026,

www.undp.org/blog/end-aids-no-longer-question-resources-political-will-and-humanity.

Accessed 30 June 2026.

https://www.undp.org/blog/end-aids-no-longer-question-resources-political-will-and-humanity

Montoro, Sarah, and Sarah Montoro. “6 Examples of Health Disparities and Potential

Solutions.” USC Price, 4 Mar. 2026,

priceschool.usc.edu/price-blog/6-examples-of-health-disparities-and-potential-solutions.

https://priceschool.usc.edu/price-blog/6-examples-of-health-disparities-and-potential-solutions/