Poverty as illness

According to CBC health news, doctors said poverty was an illness and needed to be treated. The Canadian Medical Association made a survey about how poverty affects people’s health. The survey’s result showed that social and economic factors determine fifty percent of health outcomes.

One of the reasons that poverty affects health is the doctors have difficulty when they prescribe medication for the poor. One of the doctor who works at Toronto’s St. Michael’s hospital stated that treating people at low income and a higher income will be different. Some drugs which he can prescribe for the rich but not the poor. For example, if the expensive medication will work better for the disease and people should buy it themselves, the rich people can ask doctor to prescribe it and get treatment, but the poor will ask doctor to prescribe a cheaper one instead of the expensive one. Obviously, the treatment’s outcome will be different.

The other reasons that poverty affects health is people’s lifestyle and their stress level. People who have low income may have worse lifestyle than the rich, for example smoking and drinking. Poor people say smoking is one of the strategies to relieve stress. The rich people may do exercise for relieving stress. The poor may have high calorie food such as fires, burger and can food, but the rich have healthier food such as fresh fruit and vegetable. Lifestyle influences the health status. People belong to low income group may easier develop diabetes and heart disease than the rich. The influences will be continue to affect the children and the children may become unhealth. It is kind of negative effects for many generation.

In conclusion, people should see poverty as illness. If we can improve people’s living conditions, it will be good for them and their next generation.