Health inequalities exist in Ontario. Ontarians who have lower incomes are at higher risk of having health problems like heart disease, poor mental health, stress and anxiety, depression, alcoholism, accidents, diabetes, obesity and lung cancer. To reduce these risks, the government would have to make changes to policies that affect health inequities. But action by government is linked to public awareness. Researchers surveyed 2,000 Ontarians to find out how aware they were about health inequalities related to income. These measures are a reflection of whether there is enough political will to address social determinants of health and improve health inequalities.
They found out that three out of four of those surveyed agreed that all people are not equally healthy in Ontario, and one in two agreed that the rich are much healthier than the poor.
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