Economic Facts Preventing Third World Countries from Getting the Basic Care

Introduction

Third world countries have previously faced a lot of challenges in the struggle to provide basic care services to their citizens. The history witnessed several cases of inhabitants from developing countries traveling to the developed countries in search of basic care. In addition, numerous studies have shown that the developing countries have the highest number of the deaths caused by inadequate basic care provided for the patients. High mortality rate reported in third world countries is a result of negligence on the side of government. Therefore, to prevent such occurrences basic care should be made accessible to the citizens.

The access to basic care in third world countries is considered to be a multifaceted concept which largely depends on the state of economy. Nevertheless, the discussed issue needs to be responded immediately in order to save human lives. Third world countries consider access to basic care an elusive goal. However, poverty level and economic status of these countries have a direct correlation to the poor condition of basic care needed by citizens. This paper will discuss the economic facts preventing third world countries from getting basic care they need. In doing this, the paper will use the developing countries as a case study to carefully analyze the economic backgrounds of third world countries and relate such economic conditions to the poor health conditions.

Discussion

Unemployment

The global data for unemployment has shown that third world countries have a higher rate of unemployment cases as compared to the developed nations. For instance, the survey conducted by IMF shows that the rate of unemployment in Kenya rose from 11.6% in the year 2006 to 40.2% in the year 2011. These numbers are frightening, as they could lead to poor living conditions. Basic care, on the other hand, requires a lot of skilled personnel and equipment that could be financially challenging.  Thus, the unemployed citizens will not be in opposition to access to the basic care due to the lack of fund needed (DeGeyndt, 1995).

Global Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis has caused a lot of problems for the third world countries in providing basic care to their citizens. The most challenging situation is taking place in the countries that do not have any control of the international financial market. However, this has also been facilitated by deteriorating economies in these third world countries. Developed nation imposes punitive financial measures in the global economy which it is complicated to accommodate. Thus, third world countries remain in deficit, debts, and bankruptcy, being incapable of providing basic care to their citizens (MacDonald, 2005).

Furthermore, the deteriorating condition of the economy caused by punitive financial measures scares potential investors who could have provided private health care to citizens. In addition, the international financial organizations, such as WB and IMF, are controlled by the developed countries that frustrate the structural adjustment programs, thus pushing economic state of developing countries to a worse state. As a result, investors do not desire to take risks and become bankrupts due to their interaction with third world countries.

High Demand for Health Care

The developing countries have high risk of health concerns due to the poor living conditions the citizens are subjected to. The vulnerable and harsh conditions expose a lot of citizens of third world countries to the health risks. Thus, the number of citizens demanding basic care will continue to be on the rise as long as the living conditions remain unchanged. Nonetheless, the supply of basic care facility remains slightly stagnant or does not cope with the increasing number of dependents. This will consequently result in overstretched basic care facilities hindering the provision of the health care needed by the citizens. The rate of mortality caused by overstretched basic care facilities and delay in provision of such services remains high in third world countries (Ron, Abel-Smith, & Tamburi, 1990).

High Cost of Healthcare

The cost of basic care in third world countries is still higher than the poor citizens can afford. This is attributed to the fact that major cost drivers of basic care are beyond the domain of the poor inhabitants of third world countries. In many cases, provision of basic care is followed by related costs, such as diagnosis, laboratory, operation, and pharmacy costs, consultation and accommodation fees for inpatients that the poor citizen of third world countries find very difficult to afford. Moreover, the few who can afford necessary money struggle and end up getting low-quality services at delayed time. It is true that the majority of citizens of third world countries live below one dollar a day. Such incidences will hinder the ability of the citizens from third world countries to access basic care that they need. The situation is worsened when additional costs have to be incurred by the patient for the provision of emergency-specialized services. For the poor citizens of third world countries, this move will mean being limited from the domain of accessing basic care.

High Poverty Level

Third world countries are characterized by a high level of poverty. The vulnerability and remoteness of many parts of third world countries make it difficult for the government to provide basic care to its citizens. In addition, vulnerability has led to increasing in dependency ratio in third world countries, reducing the income of the nation. The government is thus incapable of providing basic service to the high number of vulnerable and dependent citizens who do not contribute to the productivity of the country. The high number of poor citizens in third world countries has seen a rise in mortality rate caused by curable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, and typhoid. The prevalence of such diseases is common among the poor and vulnerable citizens of third world countries given the fact that they cannot access basic health care at an early stage. In addition, preventive measures such as vaccinations and continuous checkups to reduce the risks of contracting an infection are unaffordable for the poor and vulnerable citizens of third world countries. Therefore, the poor will remain susceptible to the health risks and at the same time remain alienated from basic care services (Ron, Abel-Smith, & Tamburi, 1990).

Inadequate Distribution of Income

Most third world countries have unequal distribution of income. Research has described third world countries as the nations with very few wealthy citizens and many poor and vulnerable citizens. The inequality in income distribution affects the country’s economy in terms of productivity, tax collection, and provision of services. With the high number of poor people appearing as a result of inequality in income distribution, the government is forced to provide basic care to a large percentage of citizens. This situation is quite challengeable, as it is complicated to collect financial support through taxation and other revenue sources from the few wealthy citizens.

Misdirection of Funds Meant for Basic Care

Third world countries are faced with the problem of proper planning and management of funds meant for health care provision. In most cases, the fund allocated for basic service delivery is spent on providing curative services. This move leaves preventive sector neglected thus exposing the country to an additional burden of future health hazard. At the same time, third world countries invest little of these funds into mitigation mechanism of the health risks without regarding the magnitude of its contribution to the economy. With continued misdirected economic priorities, third world countries will continue to linger in poor basic care provision with majority of their citizens being locked out of reach of this critical service.

Economic Condition of Health Worker

Third world countries have experienced frequent industrial strikes staged by health workers demanding better pay and working conditions. These factors are considered to be pull and push driver of the poor basic care offered, similar to demand and supply affecting the economy. Moreover, the economic prospects of third world countries do not offer job satisfaction for the health workers. The only way that the government can retain health worker is through adequate pay: a key driver to the economic state of a third world country. In the context of economic prospects of these nations, high pay pack for health workers is not sustainable for the country, and thus provision of basic care becomes a challenge to implement.

Moreover, as third world countries are struggling to meet the demands of the health workers, the citizens will be subjected to several problems relating to poor basic care, thus living in deteriorating health conditions. This is the reason many medical practitioners from third world countries prefer going into private practice joining other career opportunities or looking for better pay outside their country. Therefore, third world countries are left in a jeopardized state especially after spending a lot of money to train the health workers. More money spent on training of health workers is thus considered a waste and cannot be reclaimed back by the government. As these cases continue to rise, the citizens still thrive in a poor state and vulnerable health conditions with little access to basic care.

Overreliance on Donations and Grants

The fact that third world countries faced financial crisis and cannot sustain themselves has led to the emergence of many donor funding companies that come with a motive to exploit the citizens of third world countrie. In the process of providing donations and grants for basic care services, the donor puts stringent conditions and regulations that must be met by third world countries in order to enjoy such donations and grants. In the event that third world countries go astray from the regulations and requirements of the donor countries, they risk the possibility of withdrawal of these basic care services. This will create a shortfall in the basic care sector and will be worse if the country heavily depends on donations and grants to finance the basic care sector. Moreover, third world countries tend to concentrate on the provision of basic care services by either donor funding state or private organization. This will pose a great threat to the basic care sector concerning reliability and ability to remain viable for the future generation.

Lack of Supporting Infrastructure

For the proper provision of basic care, a country will need to put a lot of resources aside for investment in basic care infrastructure. Third world countries have been left in a low economic state hindering their ability to finance the required basic care infrastructure. Moreover, the basic care staff is not accessible to training and growth opportunities that are essential for proper service delivery. This aspect of inadequate infrastructure to support basic care service provision has plunged the third world countries into a state of poor basic care (Peters et al., 2009).

Factors Inherent to Economic Status of a Country

There are other factors that are inherent to the economic condition of a country. These factors are driven by the poor and devastating economic state of the third world countries. From the safety of health care workers to the absence of professional development on a continuous basis, poor economic status of third world countries remain the fundamental cause, thus derailing provision of basic care. It is important to mention the fact that poor economic conditions will lead to unhealthy lifestyles such as drug abuse, crime, unhealthy lifestyle, and unsafe foods and drinks. These inherent factors will contribute to the rising cases of citizens seeking basic care in the few and already overstretched basic care facilities.

Poor Economic Policy

The third world countries have been the victims of economic war in the global scene. In the event that the economic tragedy occurs, the countries that would suffer the most are third world countries. For instance, these nations are insignificant players in the global economy and have to cooperate with the rules and regulations of the wealthy economies. These policies leave third world countries in adverse economic situation only to implement economic policies that hurt the basic care service provision. Devaluation currency in the global market reduces the ability of a third world country to invest in basic care service provision. On the other hand, third world countries face fines, sanctions, and regulations that restrict their ability to create more wealth for investment in the basic care service provision sector. These punitive and harsh economic policies have left third world countries in a critical situation forcing them to neglect the provision of basic care to their citizens (Conrad & Gallagher, 2011).

Underdeveloped Health Insurance Policies

Third world countries have a tendency of using cash in paying for basic care whenever the need arises. However, the economic survey indicates that this is a blow to the economic condition of a country since not everybody can afford these costs. Moreover, the fact that third world countries are inhibited by people living below a dollar a day makes it almost impossible to imagine that such people will be capable of settling medical bills in hospitals. The lack of health insurance for low income earners in developing countries has hindered the access to basic care by the citizens of those countries (Vanderkooi, 2000).

Conclusion

Several economic factors have hindered the provision of basic care to citizens of the third world countries. These economic problems, however, are associated with the poor basic care of the third world countries that do not favor economic development. If the same scenario of vicious circle of poor economic conditions continues to prevail in third world countries, the problem of inadequate health care will remain a permanent issue. However, with proper economic reforms and implementations of recommendations by various sectors in the global economy, the problem of inadequate basic care in developing countries will be solved once and for all. Therefore, it is important to embrace the proper implementation of economic reforms to create a solution to the lack of basic care in developing countries. This paper therefore concludes that problem of inadequate basic care in third world countries is a solvable problem. It could be resolved through complete overhaul of the economic structure, conditions and policies and implementation of more diverse and feasible policies that will spur economic development in third world countries.

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