Poverty is a major cause of illness and a barrier to receiving needed health care. This is the financial situation: the poor cannot afford to buy the things necessary for good health, such as adequate quantities of quality food and health care.
- According to the New World Bank and WHO report, at least half of the world’s population cannot access essential health services. Every year, a large number of households are pushed into poverty as a result of having to pay for health care out of their own pockets.
- Hospital closures have increased, and the communities with the greatest shortage of doctors tend to be the poorest.
- Patients struggle to afford and access health care, while doctors face reimbursement and patient communication challenges.