Social determinants of health: poverty, national infrastructure and investment

Abstract

This case presentation of a 19-year-old Ethiopian woman diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma reveals the barriers the patient has to medical treatment, including poverty and a lack of national infrastructure. The patient lives a life of poverty, and the outcome of her illness is a result of her being unable to overcome barriers to accessing health care due to inability to afford transport, lodging and treatment. In this case, the patient's vulnerability to disease due to her poverty is not overcome because of lack of infrastructure. The infrastructure fails to develop because of inadequate investment and other delays in building. The end result is that the patient is vulnerable to disease. Her disease process impacts her family and their contribution to Ethiopia's development.

Global Health Education and Advocacy: Using BMJ Case Reports to Tackle the Social Determinants of Health

“…The effect of the social determinants of health on individual patients is well illustrated in a case report by Douthit and Alemu ( 26 ). The case is of a young woman with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.…”

“…For example, an author may be interested in how gender affects global health. On review of BMJ Case Reports global health case reports, the reader can see the literature on how women are made vulnerable in conflict ( 37 ), the risk of culturally sanctioned sexual abuse ( 29 ), the stigma for females with sexually transmitted illness ( 74 ), disease that affects women cosmetically ( 75 ), and how poverty affects educational and economic opportunity for women ( 26 ). This informs more nuanced history taking from female patients, and more inquiry into specific determinants and risks to health.…”

The Mediating Role of Age Productivity on Human Resources Development, Health Infrastructure, and Proverty Level

“…The role of health infrastructure in reducing poverty is more access to infrastructure services which also affects the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The contribution of infrastructure to the SDGs is reflected in increasing productivity and welfare among the poor, thereby optimizing the coverage and quality of services offered through improving education, health, transportation services, energy, information technology and basic sanitation (Douthit and Alemu, 2016;Foster et al, 1984).…”

The career and realisations of a global surgeon

“…10 NCDs threaten to overwhelm fragile health systems in these settings and lead to dramatic rises in health and social care costs in the near term. 11,12 In the region, out-of-pocket health expenditures are a major contributor to poverty, and a lack of adequate social protection (such as health insurance) has the potential to drive families and individuals further into poverty. The severe drain on services, health budgets, and resources as a result of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has further compounded the problem and disproportionately affected these fragile systems.…”