The One Type Of Inequality We Fail To Acknowledge: Health Inequality

From the moment we were old enough to go to school, we were taught about inequality, both directly and indirectly. We saw it around school when our classmates started using racist slurs that they heard from their older brothers and sisters. And we learned about it in a simplified manner when our teachers first told us about the Civil War. We experienced it when we fell under the notion that girls weren't good at sports and eventually realized that inequality — whether it be socioeconomic, gender or race — was all around us and integrated into every aspect of our lives.

What most of us fail to recognize, myself included, for the majority of our lives is that there is another form of inequality in existence that no one talks about. Health inequality and the disadvantages that people have because of their physical and mental health are typically not discussed, the reason for this being unclear and varied. It could be perhaps because there have been no wars started over health disparities and that for the most part, we as a society recognize that to some degree, all of us have some sort of health concern.

My attention was brought to this issue recently when I began to learn more about the endless list of chromosomal and genetic conditions that babies are born with. In many cases, these mutations within the baby's chromosomes happen spontaneously during development within the womb, which means that even if the baby's parents are not carriers for certain genetic diseases, the baby still has the chance of being born with a critical condition that can ultimately affect their physical appearance, speech, independence and ability to learn and retain information.

From the second that child enters the world, they are already at a disadvantage compared to those around them, and just like any form of inequality, it is not their fault that they have that particular identity.

While I don't anticipate any sort of revolution emerging that highlights the struggles of those with chronic health conditions, it is imperative to acknowledge this form of inequality because just like the ones that we are used to hearing about, health inequality can affect all aspects of how a person lives their life, how they perceive themselves and ultimately, how others perceive them.