When comparing two societies that have the same level of average income, the society with a more democratic distribution may have healthier people living in it than the society with a higher level of inequality. I believed this became the case in the Russian post-transitional level and in terms of changes in mortality and quality of life. Furthermore, it emphasizes that health depends on the position that an individual hold in the society, a global notion that is widely understood and espoused in Russia.
During the 1990s Russian Federation, the change in quality of life as compared to the current period, is a problem of special importance. As much as it has become more acute due to what could be called “an attack from both sides”: a weakening of the country’s health demographic condition, on the one hand, and the far-reaching social and economic stratification of society, on the other hand.
The effects of globalization on health in Russian came about the policy of economizing on health care that emerged as a legacy of the former Soviet Union. This can be exemplified by showing that the percentage of GDP that is spent on the needs of the health care system in Russia is two to three times lower than in countries that have low mortality rates like Switzerland (OECD, 2013). Meanwhile, per capita GDP in Russian seemed to have twice to thrice time lower than in many developed countries.
However, the weakening of the functioning of health care system in post-Russia is not the conclusive factor responsible for the drastic changes in mortality rates. The research analysis showed that the variable linked to the functioning of the health care system ( i.e. expenditures on healthcare in purchasing power equivalence) turned out not to account for variations in mortality levels. This is because it only describes 3–5 percent of overall variability (Rimashevskaia & Kislitsyna, 2006).
Data on trends in the quality of life in post-transition Russian is said to be resulted as a social stratification of health in Russia. The data further showed evidence of definite social inequalities in the health of males and females (Rusinova, & Safronov, 2013). This article by Rusinova, & Safronov (2013) further stated that in the post-Soviet period, there is clear discern of social inequalities in the health of both men and women. In the case of the lower strata of social stratification, as defined in terms of features of education and income, people’s sense of well-being was considerably worse compared to those in the upper levels of the social stratification. It is additionally important to understand that one argument advanced by those who oppose inequality comes down to the fact that extreme differences in income negatively affect people’s health. Russia is one in which inequality of income dictates citizen’s quality of life in post-Transition Russia. This also accounts for why, for example, a country like the United States, which is one of the richest countries in the world and spends more than other countries on health care, ranks lower than twenty-fifth in terms of life expectancy. Income differences between the rich and the poor in the United States are greater than in any other developed country.
The Soviet healthcare system was centralized, unified, hierarchically seemed organized and wholly funded from general government revenues. Would you say the global view of Russian healthcare system today is the product of an unfinished reform? Tompson, (2007) suggested the Soviet system as tended to neglect primary care, apart from public health, and to place too much emphasis on specialist and hospital care. Secondly, the article mentioned how low prestige and poor pay reduced the quality of entrants into the primary-care sector and also encouraged the de factoprivatization of services viamoonlighting or the levying of informal charges for supposedly free services.
OECD (April, 2013). Russia: Modernizing the Economy. Retrieved July 31, 2015 from http://www.oecd.org/russia/Russia-Modernising-the-Economy-EN.pdf
Rimashevskaia, N. M., & Kislitsyna, O. A. (2006). Income Inequality and Health. Russian Social Science Review, 47(4), 4-23.
Rusinova, N. L., & Safronov, V. V. (2013). The Social Stratification of Health in Russia. Sociological Research, 52(5), 18-39.
Tompson, W. (2007). HEALTHCARE REFORM IN RUSSIA: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS: Paris: Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/189943282?accountid=14872
