Healthcare remains a cornerstone of modern society, yet persistent challenges in access, affordability, and quality threaten its effectiveness on a global scale. Urgent action is needed to address these issues and forge a future where health is accessible to all, irrespective of geography or socioeconomic status. One of the most significant barriers to equitable healthcare is the escalating costs of medical services worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "More than 800 million people – almost 12 percent of the world's population – spend at least 10 percent of their household budgets to pay for health services for themselves, a sick child or other family member." The burden of healthcare costs falls disproportionately on …show more content…
As former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell once stated, "Healthcare costs are a major driver of our long-term fiscal challenges. Controlling these costs is essential for the health of our economy and the well-being of American families." In contrast, Australia has managed to maintain more affordable costs, with expenditures totaling $241.3 billion, or $9,640 per person. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, "Australia's healthcare expenditure grew by an average of 4.7% per year between 2009–10 and 2019–20, slightly lower than the 5.1% average growth over the preceding decade." This demonstrates a more sustainable approach to healthcare spending compared to the United States. Understanding the complex nature of healthcare is essential for developing effective solutions to its challenges. Beyond medical proficiency, factors such as social justice, power dynamics, and national policies profoundly influence the delivery and accessibility of healthcare services. However, healthcare often falls short of delivering justice, primarily focusing on resource allocation rather than equitable …show more content…
Leveraging the potential of foreign licensed doctors could alleviate this shortage through streamlined licensing processes and international cooperation. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, has emphasized, "We need to build a fairer, healthier world for everyone, everywhere." The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to invest in healthcare workers and ensure their equitable distribution worldwide." To achieve meaningful progress in healthcare, it is crucial to prioritize value-based care, where treatments are not only effective, but also efficient and equitable. Patient satisfaction hinges on the efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery, yet medical errors remain a significant challenge. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, "Medical errors are estimated to be the third leading cause of death in the United States, contributing to more than 250,000 deaths annually." This underscores the importance of addressing systemic issues within healthcare delivery systems. A concerted effort is needed to remove obstacles and foster equity in healthcare systems
In conclusion, the ultimate significance to this type of work is to improve the quality of healthcare in these extremely impoverished nations. This argument is represented in Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, Monte Leach’s “Ensuring Health Care as a Global Human Right”, and Darshark Sanghavi’s “Is it Cost Effective to Treat the World’s Poor.” The idea that universal healthcare is a human right is argued against in Michael F. Cannon’s “A “Right” to health care?” Cannon claims that it would not work, and fills the holes that the other authors leave in their arguments. All of these articles share the same ultimate goal, and that is to provide every individual with adequate health care, and to not let so many people die from things that could easily have been prevented or treated.
The Australian Health Care System is regarded world class for its effectiveness and efficiency. It consists of the mix system of health providers in both the private and public sector. The funding mechanism is highly advantageous to its entire citizen, which consists of the 30% Rebate, Pharmaceutical Benefit and Medicare. In particular, Medicare has been ensuring all Australian nationals with access to free and low cost medical, optometric, hospital care with special option to private health services in special circumstances.
“Health is the state of complete physical, mental, social and intellectual well-beings not merely an absence of disease”(WHO,1998).Good health is essential in life as people’s career will be affected if they fall ill.. In the developed countries like Australia, People who are not involved in the healthy lifestyle are suffering from a range of health disorders like overweight, high blood pressure, obese, heart diseases, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney problems, liver disorders and so many. To overcome these health issues Australian government introduced health care system. This essay will firstly, discuss the Australian health care system and secondly, compare Australia with other countries around the world in relation to different consideration on health.
Australia’s aging population is mainly the result of a boom in fertility rates during the post WWII period, also with an increase in life expectancy rates present at birth. However, as our aged population grows so does the number of higher risks for certain illnesses and diseases. In Australia, there are an increased percentage of aged people who are living with chronic illnesses and disabilities, which raises the demands for specific health care services, impacting on our health care system. With the high demands for the health-care services, there is a lack in financial resources in order to provide for these services, along with shortages within the workforce.
According to Poorolajal, medical errors occur when health care providers choose inappropriate methods of care or improperly execute an appropriate method of care (Poorolajal, et al. para 5 -10), which could potentially lead to loss of life and severe or permanent trauma to the victim. Valiani et al. argues, “Committing an error is part of the human nature” (540). Valiani et al. insist that no health care practitioner is immune to committing an error event if they demonstrate mastery of their skills (540). However, error in health care systems is dependent on many causes and factors. Management of such factors is essential to reducing the occurrence of errors in a health care system. Therefore, what strategies can medical practitioners implement to reduce medical errors? Medical practitioners can implement strategies such as communication, verification, and eliminating extended work shifts. These strategies are most effective because they help medical providers fulfill their full potential in doing their job in the most effective
In order to make ones’ health care coverage more affordable, the nation needs to address the continually increasing medical care costs. Approximately more than one-sixth of the United States economy is devoted to health care spending, such as: soaring prices for medical services, costly prescription drugs, newly advanced medical technology, and even unhealthy lifestyles. Our system is spending approximately $2.7 trillion annually on health care. According to experts, it is estimated that approximately 20%-30% of that spending (approx. $800 billion a year) appears to go towards wasteful, redundant, or even inefficient care.
Universal health coverage allows citizens of a particular country access to health care of all kinds, should they so need it, without exposing the user to financial hardship from medical expenses. The World Health Organization has created three objectives for universal health coverage: (1) equity in access to health services – those who need the services should get them, not just those who can pay for them; (2) that the quality of health services is good enough to improve the health of those receiving services; and (3) there is financial risk protection to ensure that the cost of using care does not put people at risk of financial hardship (WHO, 2013). While virtually every developed country besides the United States has some form of universal
Even after all the debate conserning ObamaCare, the United States still lacks a health care system that provides insurance for all citizens. With an economy that is weak, and a high rate of unemployment, this represents a serious problem. In other countries, where insurance is mandatory, medical bill are rarely paid by the average citizen. Healthcare in the United States is must be given to everyone, but it’s the matter of affording to pay the medical bills, and being accepted by an insurance company that is the main issue. In the video Sick Around the World, it introduces five countries and how their health care works, while the video Sick Around America emphasizes the problems with our health care system, and shows individual stories of those impacted.
“For the wealthiest country in the world… to not have figured out access to basic healthcare as a fundamental right for individuals, I think is a little bit of a national embarrassment.” (John Jay Shannon, MD, CEO of Cook County Health & Hospitals System (Chicago). Although the United States spends the most money on healthcare, as of 2016 they ranked 37th according to the World Health Organization which puts us behind 36th other countries. This proves that the United States healthcare system compared to other countries in not a very good system.
Throughout the world, in countries rich and poor, people have no access to basic physical and mental healthcare nor to immunizations from infectious disease. Some people have no access because they lack the resources to buy and the state does not provide it. Others may be able to afford healthcare but because there are no services available in their communities they must do without it.
There is no denying the fact that the cost of health care in the United States has been on a constant rise than the wage of the employees that pay to have access to better healthcare. There is the general fear among these employees that if the rising cost of the health care is not brought under control, there will come a time, and some analyst think, the time is already here, when those employees will not be able to afford health care for themselves and their families. This fear of the unknown is particularly evident among those closer to retirement. Employers of labor have for quite sometimes now, been shifting the burden of the high cost of affordable health care to their employees, and that has significantly reduced employee standard of living the past couple of years. Similarly, rising health care costs could also drive up inflation and make U.S.-made goods and services less competitive in international markets in the long run because increasing health care costs might eventually be reflected in higher product prices.
A country’s health care system refers to all the institutions, programs, personnel, procedures, and the resources that are used to meet the health needs of its population. Health care systems vary from one country to another, depending on government policies and the health needs of the population. Besides, health care programs are flexible in the sense that they are tailored to meet health needs as they arise. Among the stakeholders in the formulation of a country’s health care system are governments, religious groups, non-governmental organizations, charity organizations, trade/labor unions, and interested individuals (Duckett, 2008). These entities formulate, implement, evaluate, and reform health services according to the needs of the sections of the population they target.
Ernest Hemingway's "Mr. and Mrs. Elliot" ultimately leaves us with a paradox. From its opening line, the story defines the marriage of Hubert and Cornelia as a marriage of failure: failure to conceive a child, failure to communicate, failure to have good sex. Indeed, the story's opening image seems the perfect metaphor for the marriage as a whole: "Mr. and Mrs. Elliot tried very hard to have a baby. They tried as often as Mrs. Elliot could stand it" (161). The Elliots' marriage is one of unfulfilled desires-of trying as much as one "can stand it", but never achieving success. Nevertheless the story's final line asserts, "they were all quite happy." How can we reconcile the failures of this marriage with contentment? One tactic might be to assert that Hemingway was being cute when he said they were all quite happy, and the reader is expected to infer that they were really quite unhappy. While I acknowledge that Hemingway had a penchant for understatements and paradox, I think the Elliots are in a very real sense content with the state their marriage ultimately finds itself in, despite their unfulfilled desires.
There are many inequities in this global world; should there be such gross inequities in the health of people around the world? We hear words like health gap, health care inequality and sustainability. What can be done to eliminate the health gap, health care inequities and maintain sustainability? The World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations, private and public are working towards eliminating these disparities. Healthy People 2020 are one such goal that has achieved considerable progress in attaining sustainability in the pursuit of global health goals (Gostin et al., 2013). The health gap can be minimized through health strategies. Among them are essentials for all in this global world; clean air, water, healthy food and adequate housing with hygienic living conditions. Primary, secondary, tertiary prevention and care services should be available to all who seek health care services.
The health care is extremely important to society because without health care it would not be possible for individuals to remain healthy. The health care administers care, treats, and diagnoses millions of individual’s everyday from newborn to fatal illness patients. The health care consists of hospitals, outpatient care, doctors, employees, and nurses. Within the health care there are always changes occurring because of advance technology and without advance technology the health care would not be as successful as it is today. Technology has played a big role in the health care and will continue in the coming years with new methods and procedures of diagnosis and treatment to help safe lives of the American people. However, with plenty of advance technology the health care still manages to make an excessive amount of medical errors. Health care organizations face many issues and these issues have a negative impact on the health care system. There are different ways medical errors can occur within the health care. Medical errors are mistakes that are made by health care providers with no intention of harming patients. These errors rang from communication error, surgical error, manufacture error, diagnostic error, and wrong medication error. There are hundreds of thousands of patients that die every year due to medical error. With medical errors on the rise it has caused the United States to be the third leading cause of death. (Allen.M, 2013) Throughout the United States there are many issues the he...