What social issues lead to poverty Impact of poverty on health - Essay Example

Impact of poverty on health Poverty represents a complex issue to the present global society. Poverty gets caused bya variety of problems which present a challenge for both developing and developed nations. Poverty gets associated with various political, social, and economic issues and thus it gets difficult to differentiate its effects from its causes (Muennig & Su 65). The causes of poverty can further get aligned as intermediate, proximate, or the fundamental causes of poverty. One of the impacts that poverty has is on health. Poverty is both a consequence and cause of poor health. Poverty gets identified as a threat of vital concern to health. Poverty raises the chances of poor health while poor health in turn causes individuals to get trapped in poverty (Torpy 1). Poor people more often die younger as a result of poor economic, political, social, and physical conditions. Low income contributes to poor health and poor health behaviors. The relationship between poverty and health is complicated. This study aims at understanding and explaining the relationship between health and poverty. The aim of the study is to understand how poverty impacts on health. It is difficult to trace the interconnection between poverty and poor health as meager income does not necessarily guarantee abysmal health. To develop an understanding of the interconnection between poverty and health, relevant statistics get provided. Relevant literature on the interconnection of poverty and health also gets revealed. According to the world health organization- WHO, it gets approximated that almost 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty, which equates to less than a dollar a day, around the globe (WHO). Approximately half of the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 per day. It also gets approximated that at least 80% of the global population live under less than $10 a day (WHO). Infectious diseases continue to afflict the lives of the poor around the globe. Africa contributes to 90% of malarial deaths worldwide and African children represent over 80% of victims to malaria globally (WHO). It gets estimated that for the approximated 1.9 billion children in developing world, 270 million have no access to healthcare services. It is approximated that globally, 2.2 million children die annually because of a lack of immunization (WHO). One significant impact of poverty on health is the availability of food and diet. In North America and the developed nations, the diet has shifted to mainly the intake of high-fat foods. Poor people regularly seek to satisfy their caloric requirement through intake of high –fat fast foods (Muennig & Su 187). This diet behavior predisposes them to diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and obesity. The situation is quite different in developing and underdeveloped nations where there may be less processed foods. In both developing and underdeveloped countries, food supply is often in short supply and the available food may get characterized by seasonal deficiencies (Muennig & Su 212). Dietary restriction through seasonal deficiencies in foods in such countries predisposes the poor to ill health. Short supply of food in such nations also makes food prices quite high and this ensures that those with low incomes may lack purchasing power. The lack of food and dietary inadequacies through poverty leads to undernourishment among the poor. Undernourishment in turn predisposes the poor to infections and thus ill health. The poor also get forced to live under inadequate housing and crowded shelters which assist in the faster spread of disease (Muennig & Su 197). The inability to afford decent shelter by the poor also exposes them to harsh environmental conditions which impacts negatively on their health. Low incomes also see the poor fail to get proper immunization programs against preventable diseases. Tackling the topic of poverty and health demands a multilevel and multidisciplinary approach that aims at generating and sparking new ways to address the improvement of global health (Muennig & Su 312). A strategic bottom-up and top-down approach needs to get put in place to address the problem of poverty and health. The stakeholders involved in addressing the problems of poverty and poor health include policymakers, public health workers, community leaders, scholars, and advocates. Addressing poverty and poor health requires that both problems get looked at as well as their shared contributing factors. Factors such as inadequate education, poor housing, and food insecurity are integral to poverty and this should get addressed if there is a chance to improve global health of standards. Addressing poor health should not entirely focus on increasing access to health care. It is essential that more focus gets shone on issues such as environmental exposures and personal behavior which account for the causes of preventable deaths. Attention should get shifted towards developing ways to limit causes of preventable deaths among the poor. This implies that all the stakeholders concerned should come together and join hands to alleviate suffering among the poor by developing programs that address the immediate causes of poverty and poor health first. The stakeholders can in the long term address the underlying and intermediate causes and effects of poverty and poor health. The stakeholders in various regions around the globe need to develop the best ways that address the issues within their particular populations. Poverty eradication is a difficult task due to its multi-complex nature. However, stakeholders can identify ways which can mitigate the causes and effects of poverty on their populations. The stakeholders should develop workable time frames which will allow them to achieve their objectives. It is costly to address the issue of poverty and poor health. It is upon the stakeholders to identify and form partnerships that uplift their proposed financial obligations. The stakeholders involved in the fight against poverty and health education can seek for assistance from their respective governments and non-governmental organizations that are dedicated towards the alleviation of poverty and poor health. Stakeholders may meet challenges and resistance from the community members who will view them with suspicion. Proper engagement between the various stakeholders and the community through its leaders can help alleviate this challenge. Challenges may also arise among the stakeholders themselves when they fail to agree on the best policy available towards combating the problem of poverty and health. This can get solved through constant and regular discussions among the stakeholders to ensure that they all understand their roles in the process of combating the problems. Works Cited Organization, World Health. Poverty and health. 24 November 2013. 24 November 2013 . Peter Muennig, Celina Su. Introducing Global Health: Practice, Policy, and Solutions. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Torpy, Janet M. "Poverty and Health." Journal of American Medical Association (2007): 1-1. Read More