Poverty and Health: Access to health care

Poverty and Health

Approximately 1.2 billion people in the world live in extreme poverty (less than one dollar per day). Poverty creates ill-health because it forces people to live in environments that make them sick, without decent shelter, clean water or adequate sanitation.

Poverty is multi-dimensional in its causes as well as in its cures. Poor health is a major contributor to poverty and good health status one of the means to prevent poverty or, better still, a means to overcome poverty. For this reason, health is already considered as an important element on the international poverty reduction agenda.

http://www.afro.who.int/pih/index.html

http://www.afro.who.int/pih/pub/positionpaper.pdf

Better health is central to human happiness and well-being. It also makes an important contribution to economic progress, as healthy populations live longer, are more productive, and save more.

http://www.who.int/hdp/en/index.html

http://www.who.int/hdp/publications/human_rights.pdf

http://www.who.int/hdp/publications/dying_change.pdf

Access to health care

A person’s health is influenced by the conditions in which she or he lives. Social and economic conditions — such as poverty, social exclusion, unemployment, and poor housing — strongly influence health. They contribute to inequities in health, explaining why people living in poverty die sooner and get sick more often than those living in more privileged conditions.

http://www.euro.who.int/socialdeterminants

http://www.euro.who.int/document/e80225.pdf

The main challenges include quality assurance of medicines, the supply chain itself, including selection, procurement, pricing, licensing, medicines for children, the actual care which patients receive, and the lack of human and other resource capacity to meet them.

http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/Display/ConfDisplay.asp?ConfNbr=6486

People with low incomes, particularly those who live in poverty, face particular challenges in maintaining their health. They are more likely than those with higher incomes to become ill, and to die at younger ages. They are also more likely to live in poor environmental situations with limited health care resources—factors that can compromise health status and access to care. Public programs play a vital role in helping to reduce disparities in health by income by supporting health initiatives targeted at those with low incomes and maintaining a safety net of health and social services for the poor.

http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/poverty-and-health

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/tsp-health.pdf

http://www.idrc.ca/es/ev-27498-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

http://www.jica.go.jp/english/global/pove/index.html

Take a look at these videos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySvrwYTrAz8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JUYFUGlUVw

People let's reach out to the 1.2 billion poverty stricken fellows! Let's make our world a better place!