Intersection of Health and Politics

“Of all forms of Inequality, Injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane.” This line by Martin Luther King, Jr. stands right amidst today’s scenario. Our social position and beliefs guide our access to resources. The more significant one is that they are more likely to get aid first. Lack of access to services affects one’s mental well-being. Due to the lack of institutions, there is increased competition for scarce resources, and that in turn causes distress among people. Policies drafted for providing healthcare services to all rarely reach the targeted individuals, the deprived section of society. 

The personal is political 

The stakeholders in curating policies are regulating all the key areas like food, shelter, and job security, but there are no provisions for improving one’s mental well-being. The upper middle class and the middle class have access to healthcare services and, hence, can work through the adversarial effects of mental toil.

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The poorer sections of society are still deprived of basic amenities like safe drinking water, let alone access to mental healthcare. In the second wave of feminism, a new idea of “ personal is political” emerged, which sought to explain that the personal experiences of an individual, especially women, are influenced by their political situation and gender inequality. 

This idea can be understood in the context of how our social and political status determines the quality of our lives, the kind of education, jobs, and relationships.

 In 1965, in an attempt to understand the relationship between socioeconomic factors and mental health, Alexander Leighton created a study to research a rural community in Canada. This community was poverty-stricken and did not have community-building institutions, which caused anxiousness, depression, and hopelessness. Access to subsidized food and secondary education drastically improved the lives of this community. For this part of the world, providing political solutions to mental health crises proved beneficial. 

Impact of health inequity

Inequity stems from a lack of access to resources. Health equity is afflicted due to the inaccessibility of affordable healthcare. The political determinants of health, like voting, government, and policy, either have an affirmative or a negative impact. For instance, when people who are in dire need of representation get suppressed and are unable to vote at their will, they might experience distress and dissatisfaction. In simple words, our lifestyle and environment affect our mental health. 

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On a global level, non-governmental institutions like the United States have reiterated this idea in Sustainable Development Goal 3- Ensures healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This SDG aims to eradicate all evils like drug abuse and lack of access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services. 

Apart from destigmatizing mental health care, we need to promote its accessibility for all.

In countries like India, where approximately 15 percent of the population lives in multidimensional poverty, there is a need to advance health equity. Access to basic health care services is essential to improving the position of individuals in a country.