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Children living in low income families have worst health outcomes than other children on a number of key indicators. This includes infant mortality, low birthweight and malnutrition.
Poverty’s harsh efforts on health care starts before babies are born and piles up throughout their adult lives. With stress filled homes, shaky nutrition, toxic environments and healthcare gaps of every kind. Kids in very low income families may never catch up when it comes to their health.
Poverty is a major cause of ill health and a hindrance to accessing healthcare when needed.
This relationship is financial; the poor cannot afford to purchase these things needed for good health, including sufficient quantities of quality foods and healthcare.
The relationship is also related to other factors of poverty. May include lack of information on appropriate health practices or lack of voice needed to make social services work for them.
This is partly due to the cost of seeking healthcare. It includes not only out-of-pocket spending on care (such as consultation, tests and medicines) but also transportation costs and informal payments to providers.
It is also due to the considerable loss of income associated with illness in developing countries. Not only the breadwinner but also family members who may be obliged to stop working or attending schools to take care of an ill relative.
In addition, poor families might be forced to sell the little assets they have to cover the medical expenses. They borrow at a high cost or become indebted to the community.
Strong health systems improve the health status of the whole population. Most especially of the poor, among whom ill health and poor access to healthcare tends to be concentrated. It also protects households from potentially catastrophic effects of out-of-pocket healthcare cost.
In general, poor health is excessively concentrated among the poor.
Story by Hilda Adzokpa