Tobacco Health Inequity in Australia Writing Assignment (Research Paper Sample)

Tobacco Health Inequity in Australia
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Introduction
According to Miller & Hickling (2014, p.74), tobacco health inequity in Australia is most prevalent in the people with life in a low socio-economic and are more the probable people to smoke tobacco. Hence, there is a widespread of tobacco use among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) population because they are the leading community with a lower socio-economic status compared to other cities and regions in Australia. Further studies show that the ATSI people aged 15 years and over were in a more probable position to engage in daily smoking activities compared to the non-indigenous people. Moreover, some factors have caused the prevalence and social distribution of tobacco use in Australia which people with mental illnesses, cultural and linguistic diverse communities (Purcell, 2015, p.8). This article is meant to explain how public health has defined the tobacco health inequity in Australia in the past. The tobacco health inequity in Australia is of concern because of the health gap it has caused numerous effects on the Australian population because it has led to diseases that could have been prevented (Friel, 2009). Therefore, there is a high number of people who are affected by most non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, asthma and various circulatory disorders. Furthermore, the current reasons that the current public health has identified as the causes of the tobacco health inequity include the nightlife setting which has promoted risky behaviors and the working environment because most urban employment facilities provide smoking ones for the addicts ( Newman et al., 2015, p. 126).
Public Health Explanation on Tobacco Health Inequity in Australia
1 Socio-economic Factors
According to Scollo and Winstanley (2016), the ATSI are the most affected by the socioeconomic factors, but still, they engage in smoking behaviors. It is notable that most of the ATSI people are disadvantaged due to the educational background of the ATSI, low-income levels compared to other general Australian population and employment opportunities. Though the government has put more effect on closing the employment gap, there is still a big difference because there has been a slight improvement of 7%. Moreover, the population of the non-Indigenous people has remained steady with a percentage of 76%. Furthermore, the ATSI background is also affected by the tobacco inequity due to the mental illness inequities that existed. According to the public health, most of the ATSI people harmed by tobacco use are the depressed ATSI people, psychological stress in the ATSI population compared to the non-Indigenous people (Partos et al., 2012, p.653). From the 2004-2005 survey, smoking is more prevalent in people with psychological distress, and the 2002 national ATSI social Survey show that most ATSI people are public offenders. Another reason that has led to this health inequity gap is the homelessness and criminal justice offenders who are addicts of tobacco use.
2 Smoking Behavior Disparities Among Young People
According to the Cancer Council (2012), the young student who some are in secondary school and living in disadvantaged regions such as the ATSI people were influenced mostly by tobacco use compared to the students living in the more advantaged region in Australia (AMA, 2007). According to a survey carried out in 2008 indicate that older students from more advantaged in Australia were likely to engage in smoking activities compared to those from disadvantaged areas. However, there was a huge disparity with the younger students (12-15 years old) from the impoverished regions who were likely to engage in smoking activities compared to those from privileged areas ( Cancer Council, 2012).
3 Domestic Exposure Disparities
According to the Cancer Council (2012), the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (1998) states that Australian smokers in 2010-2011 were mostly affected by the low income they earned and were more probable to allow smoking in their houses. Furthermore, research indicates that 82% of university-educated smokers in (2008-2009) admitted that they never smoked in the presence of non-smokers in their cars and this was slightly higher than those who had not completed their secondary education.
4 Physical Environment
According to VicHealth (2014, p.9), this is another factor that has led to the health inequity in Australia because of the urban design setting which has many retail outlets selling tobacco. Furthermore, these retail outlets are more concentrated in disadvantaged regions such as the Indigenous people who live in poverty states which influences the smoking behavior in these regions. Therefore, there are less retail shops in advantaged areas in Australia which has reduced is a standard population who smoke in Australia.
5 Prisoners
According to Purcell (2015), smoking is prevalent by prisoners compared to the general population in Australia. For instance, 84% of the inmates in 2012 were current smokers while about 80% of the prisoners get reported as current smokers even when they leave the prison facility. Furthermore, the most affected by these are the unemployed population, the ATSI people and people with a low educational background which led them to do criminal activities that got them into prison. For instance, 67% of the inmates in Australia who smoke were unemployed before they got arrested for crimes they did while 36% were illiterate and had not completed at least ten years in school.
6 Exposure to Second-hand Smoke Disparities
The exposure to second-hand-smoke (SHS) has caused severe health effects on both the children and the adults because most children are at risk of acquiring respiratory diseases. Moreover, the implementation of smoke-free laws has resulted in the reduction in disparities in workplace exposure to SHS through his differences in SHS in homes has nor reduced. The exposure to tobacco in homes has led to in children smoking most prevalent in the rural areas of Australia where most Indigenous communities are present (Purcell, 2015, p.10). For instance, children in areas with low socioeconomic status are more likely to engage in smoking compared to children from high socioeconomic status because they are not often exposed to tobacco smoking back home. Moreover, According to the Victorian data in Australia (2008), 73% of the surveyed reports indicate that most regular smokers used to do this outside their homes while 12% got reported that most regular smokers sometimes smoked outside their homes. Also, data from the National ATSI Social Survey (NATSISS) indicate that Indigenous children were more probable to get exposed to smoke from tobacco in their homes compared to the non-Indigenous children. According to Purcell (2015, p.11), children were also likely to get exposed to tobacco smoke in the cars which resulted to the Victorian administration in Australia declaring it illegal to smoke in a car that children were present.
7 Impact on the Life Course Perspective
According to the WHO (2010, p.44), children who come from desperate and more impoverished backgrounds were at a higher risk if developing intellectual disabilities due to the tobacco smoke. Furthermore, these children were at a higher risk of having speech impairment due to the effects of tobacco smoke that was more prevalent in remote areas compared to the urban settlement. Furthermore, some conditions such as stomach cancer and stroke were common on children depending on the physical environment that surrounded them. Also, lung cancer and violence were common in adults due to their surrounding which got filled with tobacco smoking activities.
8 Mental Health
According to Purcell (2015, p.9), there is a high prevalence of mental health disorder in patients who smoke tobacco. It got noted that in 2008 there was 32% of the 3.6 million people in Australia who got identified as current smokers and they had a mental disorder. Moreover, people in Australia who live with psychotic disorders are active smokers of tobacco and smoking was more common in men compared to the women. Furthermore, people with the post-traumatic disorder, panic disorder and depression were more likely to engage in smoking activities more compared to the general Australian population.
9 Prevalence of Smoking Among Pregnant Women
According to Scollo and Winstanley (2016), the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC), 48% of the Indigenous mothers used to smoke when they were pregnant compared to the 13% of the non-Indigenous mothers. Also, there was a decrease in tobacco use among pregnant indigenous women though the number was lower on the non-Indigenous women who were significant in identifying the tobacco health inequity between these two groups in Australia. Furthermore, smoking is prevalent by the Indigenous women even after birth compared to the non-Indigenous women. Also, the public health confirmed that the smoking rate by the Indigenous women was more common in the rural areas and was lower in the urban settlement which is a vivid tobacco health inequity (Gould et al., 2011, p.33). The various Indigenous women that have been affected by smoking when pregnant are from the Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia (Scollo and Winstanley, 2016).
10 Prevalence of Smoking Among Health Workers
According to a survey conducted on the ATSI health workers have a high tobacco use prevalence compared to the non-Indigenous health workers (Thompson, 2010, p.3). Moreover, most of the Indigenous health workers who are tobacco users smoke heavily because the tobacco helps in coping with the stressful nature of their work shifts and workloads. Therefore, the survey done in 2012-2013 indicates that prevalence in smoking among the ATSI staff was lower compared to their communities. Thus, t...