In Countries With Universal Health Coverage, Poorer Diabetics Receive Worse Care Than Others

In Countries With Universal Health Coverage, Poorer Diabetics Receive Worse Care Than Others

Treatment of diabetes is worse for people with lower socioeconomic status and those belonging to ethnic minority groups than the rest of patients in the world\’s most developed countries.

This conclusion emerges from a research conducted at the University of Granada which has accomplished the most comprehensive bibliographic review worldwide to date on health care of this disease in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries that have universal coverage health systems. The OECD brings together the most advanced and developed countries on the planet, and its members account for 70% of the global market.

This work has been carried out by Ignacio Ricci Cabello, from the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Granada, and directed by professors Isabel Ruiz Pérez (Andalusian School of Public Health) and Soledad Márquez Calderón (Andalusian Regional Ministry of Health). Its main objective was to determine whether health systems provide equitable healthcare to all diabetics, regardless of gender, race, socioeconomic status or country of origin or they do not. In addition, researchers focused on «rich» countries with universal coverage health systems, as these are the best placed to prevent such discrimination.

Late diagnosisThe study results showed that inequalities do exist: people with lower socioeconomic status (low income levels, illiterate, unemployed …) are diagnosed later. In many cases, before receiving a diagnosis, they suffer complications from the disease that an early diagnosis would avoid.
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