HEALTH-CARE COSTS

 HEALTH-CARE COSTS

Providing health care comes at a high cost to the national economy, and that cost has been rising rapidly in countries like the United States, Germany, and Sweden; in Britain, the rise has been slower. Both industrialized and developing countries have expressed serious concern about this development. A large part of this fear stems from the absence of consistent data to support the idea that more health care spending will result in better health. Countries in the developing world are pushing to replace the health-care system that developed under European colonialism with one that is more affordable and more suited to their needs.

For both private and public health-care delivery systems, rising costs have prompted a review of policies and a search for more cost-effective ways to accomplish their objectives. Despite the money spent, health services aren't always used efficiently by those who need them, and the results might vary greatly from community to community, despite the expenditures. There was a 24% drop in deaths in Britain's most wealthier areas between 1951 and 1971 compared to a 16% drop in the most impoverished areas of society. More than only the quality of medical care affects one's ability to stay healthy. Well-being encompasses all of the above, in addition to adequate living and working conditions and enough access to social services.

IN THE DEVELOPING NATIONS:

Culturally, socially and economically, developing countries differ greatly from developed countries, but they all have a low average income per person and huge percentages of their populations living below the poverty line. The majority of their inhabitants reside in rural areas, despite the fact that most have a small elite class that lives mostly in the city. During the mid- and late-20th century, pockets of slums appeared in urban areas in emerging and some developed countries due to an increase in rural peoples and immigrants. In the 21st century, improved, cheaper construction methods allowed for the production of inexpensive homes in highly crowded areas like New York City and cities in India, reducing some of the city's housing woes. Some cities are simply too congested to keep public health under check, though. Thousands of urban and rural poor die each year from avoidable and curable diseases, generally linked to inadequate hygiene and sanitation, contaminated water supplies, malnutrition, vitamin deficiency, and chronic preventable infections, due to a lack of even the simplest steps. In the 1980s, life expectancy at birth for men and women in Africa was roughly one-third lower than in Europe, and infant mortality in Africa was about eight times higher than in Europe. These and other deprivations are reflected in the findings. As a result, emerging countries place a great focus on expanding primary health care.

Lacking adequate resources, developing countries have often been unable to establish or implement the plans necessary to offer basic services at the village or urban poor level. They are. Health care systems that work in one country may not work in another, and this is becoming increasingly apparent. Research has shown that a country's unique circumstances, people, culture, philosophy, and economic and natural resources all have a role in providing high-quality health care.

More and more developing countries are promoting services that use less highly qualified primary health care workers who may be deployed more broadly in order to cover the widest possible range of people. Undernutrition, infection, gastrointestinal illnesses, and respiratory symptoms are some of the most pressing medical issues in the developing world, all of which may be traced back to factors like poverty, ignorance, and poor hygiene. It's not difficult to recognize and treat them in most cases. Preventive measures, on the other hand, are usually easy and inexpensive. There is no need for specialized training in most circumstances; the phrase "primary health worker" encompasses all nonprofessional members of the healthcare team.

IN DEVELOPED NATIONS:

Health care providers in the industrialized world face a distinct set of challenges than those in developing countries. While many diseases that once ravaged the Third World have been eliminated or are easily curable, many others remain unaffected. Environmental and public health threats have been reduced or eliminated. A wide range of social services, varied in quality, have been made available. Public monies are available to help pay for medical expenses, and private insurance policies are also an option. In spite of this, governments have a finite amount of money to spend on health care, and the rising expense of modern medicine means that many people will be unable to afford effective treatment. The growing need for more money for health education and prevention initiatives targeted at the poor raises the overall cost of modern medical care.