Ange Bertin Izere ENG101

Wealth Shouldn't Solely be the Road to Health: Reversing the Track with
Universal Health Access
Ange Bertin Izere
University of Global Health Equity
ENG101: Writing and Communication I
Mr. Kevin Ireri Mbogo
October 11, 2023

• These four minutes are enough for nearly 42 children and 2 women to die from treatable
diseases (Suzuki & Kashiwase, 2019), 45 years after the Alma Ata Declaration.
• In today's more capitalistic world, a peasant farmer in Nyamasheke is less priviliged to

access quality healthcare. Should we let this continue?
• Prioritizing healthcare access based on the socioeconomic status of persons sparks

catastrophic disparities and inequities in healthcare delivery, affecting the poorest most, and
undermining the country's development.
• Universal healthcare should be promoted because health is a human right, it can reduce
disease burden through prevention and early detection, and it can lead to economic
development.
• In this presentation, we see why universal health, and put light on some counterarguments
against it.
• We should not prioritize healthcare access based on socioeconomic status of persons,
considering that health and access to medical care are fundamental human rights (United
Nations, 1948).
• For instance, surgical care is still a dream to 5 billion people globally (Payda & Riviello,
n.d.) not because they don't need it. It is a reflection of disparities and inequities that are
present in health systems and violations of human rights.
• By prioritizing healthcare access that is not based on socio-economic status, we may

realize full respect of human rights, that has nothing to do with being rich or poor, famous
or not.
• Therefore, it is arguably a better way not to prioritize healthcare access based on the socio-
economic status of individuals.
• Providing universal healthcare access is a good way to achieve preventive care and early
diagnosis of diseases.
• Research has shown that countries that have free or near-to-free healthcare access have a
lower disease burden compared to the rest of the world (Knudsen et al., 2019). This is
because it is easy to prevent and detect diseases early.
• Early detection of diseases reduces financial burden on the patient, family and government,
because cases that require specialized care become low.
• Healthcare access that is not based on socioeconomic status of the persons appears to be a
better approach to health promotion.
• Accessibility to healthcare is the main pillar to economic development on individual and
national levels.
• Today, it is known that young people are the future. Accordingly, 7 in 10 people in Sub-
Saharan Africa are under the age of 30 (United Nations, 2022).
• If healthcare is made accessible to everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status,

young people in developing countries can achieve better health outcomes.
• Healthy youth will be a productive workforce, thus increasing individual savings and the
national economy and more rapid GDP per capita growth (Johnson & Godoy, 2020).
• Thus, it is, to a large extent, reasonable to say that not prioritizing healthcare access based
on the socioeconomic status of individuals is the right way to go.
• Opposers of this idea might say that this approach would be expensive for the country and
incur a lot of burden on taxpayers.
• In fact, a study conducted on the relationship between the Healthcare Access and Quality
(HAQ) Index and cumulative health spending per capita showed that the US that invests
the most in health has lower HAQ Index than countries like Norway, Netherlands and
Australia (Fullman et al., 2018).
• This indicates that with universal healthcare, governments can spend less compared to
privatized health systems by bargaining to reduce drug prices and health-related costs.
• This can promote an efficient and sustainable healthcare system that benefits all citizens,
without spending a lot of resources.
• Despite the counterarguments brought by opposers of this approach to public health,

universal healthcare access would be better for our country.
Summing up
• Healthcare access is a universal and basic human right entitled for all human beings,
regardless of their socioeconomic status.
• When socioeconomic status is not made a basis for healthcare access, future disease burden is
avoided through preventive care and early diagnosis.
• It is also important in promoting young people's health, which is an important path

towards economic development.
• It will not cost the country a lot; spending a lot in health does not necessarily mean better
health outcomes. Taxpayers need not to worry.
• Instead of going a wrong way prioritizing healthcare access based on socioeconomic status of
the persons, the government should invest in universal healthcare.
References
• Fullman, N., Yearwood, J., Abay, S. M., Abbafati, C., Abd-Allah, F., Abdela, J., Abdelalim, A., Abebe, Z., Abebo,
T. A., Aboyans, V., Abraha, H. N., Abreu, D. M. X., Abu-Raddad, L. J., Adane, A. A., Adedoyin, R. A.,
Adetokunboh, O., Adhikari, T. B., Afarideh, M., Afshin, A., & Agarwal, G. (2018). Measuring performance on the
Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: a
systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet, 391(10136), 2236–2271.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30994-2
• Johnson, C. S., & Godoy, K. (2020, April 27). How the health of a nation impacts GDP. Cornell SC Johnson.
https://business.cornell.edu/hub/2020/04/27/health-nation-impacts-gdp/#:~:text=The%20impact%20of%20health%
20on%20the%20economy&text=As%20the%20World%20Bank%20points
• Knudsen, A. K., Allebeck, P., Tollånes, M. C., Skogen, J. C., Iburg, K. M., McGrath, J. J., Juel, K., Agardh, E. E.,
Ärnlöv, J., Bjørge, T., Carrero, J. J., Cederroth, C. R., Eggen, A. E., El-Khatib, Z., Ellingsen, C. L., Fereshtehnejad,
S.-M., Gissler, M., Hadkhale, K., Havmoeller, R., & Johansson, L. (2019). Life expectancy and disease burden in
the Nordic countries: results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. The
Lancet Public Health, 4(12), e658–e669. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30224-5
• Payda, J., & Riviello, R. (n.d.). Towards a More Equitable Future: A Call to Make Surgery Safe, Accessible,
Timely, and Affordable for the World’s Poor . 1–3.
References (Ct'd)
• Ranabhat, C. L., Acharya, S. P., Adhikari, C., & Kim, C.-B. (2023). Universal health coverage evolution,
ongoing trend, and future challenge: A conceptual and historical policy review. Frontiers in Public Health, 11,
2–5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1041459
• Suzuki, E., & Kashiwase, H. (2019, September 19). Despite remarkable progress, 15,000 children and 800
women still die every day mostly of preventable or treatable causes. Blogs.worldbank.org.
https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/despite-remarkable-progress-15000-children-and-800-women-still-die-e
very-day-mostly
• The World Bank. (2022, October 6). Universal health coverage. World Bank.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/universalhealthcoverage
• United Nations. (1948, December 10). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations.
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
• United Nations. (2022). Young people’s potential, the key to africa’s sustainable development | office of the
high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island
developing states. Un.org.
https://www.un.org/ohrlls/news/young-people%E2%80%99s-potential-key-africa%E2%80%99s-sustainable-d
evelopment

Ange Bertin Izere ENG101

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ange Bertin Izere ENG101

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ange Bertin Izere ENG101

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Wealth Shouldn't Solely be the Road to Health: Reversing the Track with

Universal Health Access

Ange Bertin Izere

University of Global Health Equity

ENG101: Writing and Communication I

Mr. Kevin Ireri Mbogo

October 11, 2023

• In today's more capitalistic world, a peasant farmer in Nyamasheke is less priviliged to

• Prioritizing healthcare access based on the socioeconomic status of persons sparks

• By prioritizing healthcare access that is not based on socio-economic status, we may

• If healthcare is made accessible to everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status,

• Despite the counterarguments brought by opposers of this approach to public health,

• It is also important in promoting young people's health, which is an important path

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.