Shoutbox » Healthcare for all?

Could universal healthcare be a reality for the poorest of the poor?

With Obama trying to push through a radical healthcare reform in the US, the issues of healthcare and how to provide it have been at the forefront of the public conscience for the past year. But Obama has not yet succeeded in his bid to reform US healthcare and provide access to adequate, affordable healthcare to some of his country’s poorest citizens.

When looking at places like Africa, the poverty of a great deal of the governments (often combined with an unwillingness to prioritise healthcare), means that healthcare starts to mean something quite different than it does in places like the UK and the US. For starters, expensive treatment for diseases like cancer, malaria and even HIV/AIDS are often not an option. Governments and healthcare officials, sadly, have to focus on preventative healthcare.

Preventative healthcare is the very basic provision of education and equipment to avoid the transmission of diseases. This can include measures such as encouraging washing hands, teaching about safe sex and providing mosquito nets. Sometimes just talking about health and dispelling myths can make all the difference.

A case in point in the battle against HIV/AIDS in Africa – countries such as Botswana and Uganda have pursued a rigorous campaign against unsafe sex – despite the cultural barriers against talking about such things in public. The ABC slogan – Abstain, Be faithful, Condomise – has been widely credited with slowing down the transmission rates in these countries.

Selecting diseases and focusing resources on these diseases does seem to be able to make a difference in a nation’s overall health. But as far as universal healthcare goes, this is still a pipe-dream for most of the world’s poorest people. The reasons for this seem to be numerous: lack of funds, unwillingness to prioritise health, inequality, migration of trained healthcare professionals, high mark up of essential medicines, patent law, public vs. private provision, etc

What do you think is the biggest obstacle to universal healthcare? Is it even something we should be aiming for? Have your say and shoutback now!

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Posted By Rachel Schofield on Wednesday 10th February 2010 a 10:03am

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