Dying for change: Voices of the poor on healthcare

My visit to the village over the weekend brought me face to face with the devastating irreversible consequences of the failing public health system to the rural poor. This is what the Doctors have been crying out aloud for. I was told of an old man in the neigbouring village who passed on with a cry, that he was dying for change in the hearts of those in charge of the health systems to remember the poor.

In his 2001 address to the World Health Assembly, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said:" The biggest enemy of health in the developing world is poverty".

Poverty creates ill- health because it forces people to live in environments that make them sick, without decent shelter, clean water or adequate sanitation. Poverty creates hunger, which in turn leaves people vulnerable to disease.

Poverty denies people access to reliable health services and affordable medicines, and causes children to miss out on routine vaccinations. Poverty creates illiteracy, leaving people poorly informed about health risks and forced into dangerous jobs that harm their health.

Enjoying an optimum level of health is the basic right of every individual and is a constitutional responsibility of the state. The state is responsible for ensuring the adequacy of resources both financial and human, and proper resource allocation. Lack of seriousness and timely interventions into the issues such as strikes ultimately ends in patients' sufferings.

Moreover, in the system of socialized medicine government is the supreme authority since it has the control of resources and important management decisions related to health (care) system. Therefore, government has the responsibility to do the justice to the system and to all of its stakeholders. Government also needs to adopt a responsible role regarding how to tackle these strikes by doctors.

I recalled a 2005 report on Poverty and Health. Dying for Change reports on the health aspects of Voices of the Poor, an extensive World Bank study of people's perspectives and experiences of poverty and ill health.

One of the strongest messages to emerge from the study is that poor people are angry and frustrated at their exclusion. They understand why they are ill and why they are poor, and often have ideas about what can be done. But the majority are ignored and marginalized by those with power, including health service authorities.

Poor people want institutions that are honest, accountable, treat them fairly and show respect.

I ask the government meet its obligations to the citizens by investing in the public health system and regulating the private health sector.