A PBS Shout-Out
For those of you who haven’t seen already, PBS has been broadcasting some enlightening series about health and healthcare in the U.S and abroad. The first program is a four-part series that began last month called Unnatural Cause: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? and it investigates some of the racial and economic inequalities that significantly affect health. The documentary shows how social environment is a key factor in determining healthy lifestyle in the U.S just as much as diet and exercise and explores why this is.
From their website:
The single strongest predictor of our health is our position on the class ladder. Whether measured by income, schooling, or occupation, those at the top have the most power and resources and on average live longer and healthier lives. Those at the bottom are most disempowered and get sicker and die younger. The rest of us fall somewhere in between.
“Unnatural Causes” has a campaign running to help fight some of these issues through policy changes and other initiatives. If you’re interested in getting involved visit their Action Center website to find out how you can help!
Also, PBS’s television and online journal Frontline will be airing a special called Sick Around the World tonight, April 15, 2008 at 9 pm. The show examines the universal health care programs of other industrialized nations, including the often cited examples of the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. The special also examines Taiwan’s technology-based health care system, in which every citizen’s medical background is maintained through an electronic “smart card.”
The PBS special highlights areas of universal health that are often times dubbed socialized medicine, such as equal access to care, health care mandates, and insurance company restrictions. Interesting to note is Germany’s principle of solidarity, as a German parliament member describes, “where the rich pay for the poor and where the ill are covered by the healthy.” The nations that are studied in Sick Around the World, all advanced capitalist democracies, prove that it is not a farfetched notion to have a quality health care system for all Americans. Talk about being the last to get the idea.
As the country looks towards implementing a universal health care system, it’s important for women’s health advocates to be informed and involved in the process. Watching these two shows is a great first step as we work to improve health care for all women!