Health Challenges in Underdeveloped Countries

Health systems in underdeveloped countries are usually ill-aligned to deal with the needs of the people who need this care most. This means that the health system unjustly spends most of its resources on the segment of the population that needs it least, since this population incidentally enjoys a higher standard of life, without exposure to things such as malnutrition, poor sanitation and other risk factors that the poor face daily. This means that these disadvantaged communities have to pay out of pocket to access these services, or avoid health care, which leads to untreated morbidity, or the more likely result of more than 100 million people falling into poverty annually after paying health related expenses.  (Afri. Health sciences, 2009; (Shah, 2011)).Related to this is the fact that health expenditure is mainly targeted at curative purposes, rather than prevention. The effect is a missed opportunity to stop many of the diseases and problems they end up curing, and further misdirecting desperately needed funds that could be aimed at prevention (Afri. Health sciences, 2009).

The communities affected by these problems greatly suffer due to lack of knowledge on their options. Health insurance in these countries is mostly unheard of, and an increase in this would help many communities access health care. It is therefore important as a nursing professional to enlighten these communities on this. Secondly, the communities affected need to be educated on how to protect themselves from harmful sicknesses and diseases. Nutrition, hygiene and good sanitation are within the grasp of many of these communities. Hospitals should also observe hygiene and minimize the high rate of infections contracted in hospitals. (Afri. Health sciences, 2009)

The insufficient supply of nursing staff in these countries exacerbates the problems. The nursing profession can lobby international decision making bodies to actively fight for this, with the aim of ultimately having more accessible healthcare for all. This will be in line with the two strategies discussed above, of empowering these communities to do more to prevent illnesses, and acquiring health insurance whenever possible.