Global Health Care Challenges

When analyzing the global health care crisis, one should pay particular attention of the problem from both the macro and micro scale. Overlooking either side of the issue wastes both valuable time and resources during an era that cannot afford such loss. Some argue that health care is a fight that politicians must win to enact change. Others say the crisis is simply another economic matter that will eventually resolve itself under the theories of supply and demand. When we look at these explanations without seriously considering the issues that arise in the microcosm, we expose ourselves to moral hazard. In Banker to the Poor (1), Nobelaureate Muhammad Yunus describes how a great deal of change can result from looking at the problem from a smaller perspective.

A Lack of Labor

In 2006, the World Health Organization released a report that assessed the global health workforce and concluded that the health care crisis was in part due to the lack of health care workers in many regions around the world.

It is important to note that the WHO report defines health workers as individuals who act with the intent of improving health. This means that even a mother caring for a sick child is essentially a health worker. However, the WHO report recognizes the difficulty in drawing accurate conclusions from this broad definition and decided to hone in on two special types of health care workers. An example in the report compares a doctor working for a mining company and a painter working in a hospital. Ultimately, the report concludes that it would be best to count the two as health care workers, the doctor providing direct services and the painter providing indirect services. This definition assumes that without the support of the ...

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...ever, even an increase for funds dedicated to health care is insufficient to meet the MDGs. Short-term and long-term plans must be implemented in both the micro and macro scale of the problem to ensure an even distribution of resources. Focused surge of health workers into key regions over time and improved access to information are both powerful solutions that will make all the difference within a few years. As Muhammad Yunus said, “my greatest challenge has been to change the mindset of people. Mindsets play strange tricks on us. We see things the way our minds have instructed our eyes to see.” Similarly, a lack of information has given many people certain mindsets that often lead them to become prone to illness. Information is practically free; why not distribute it to those who would benefit from its presence the most and save something as precious as a life.