Education is Key
Modern medical science has made tremendous progress in the last few decades, enabling us to gain new insights into the way our world works. Much of this knowledge is taken for granted by those in richer nations, who have access to proper schooling, facilities and technologies. But to those living in poor, rural and undeveloped nations, much of this knowledge is simply unknown to them
People can easily be taught the basics of personal hygiene and why it is important to their well being.
Small centers and committees need to be set up through government, World Bank and private funding, to educate local villagers and townspeople on concepts that they otherwise may not be familiar with.
Concepts like how diseases get transmitted, how hand-washing, safe food preparation, and proper disposal of waste all help to prevent disease, should be taught to young and old alike.
Young mothers need to be educated on how to prepare nutritious meals with available, low-cost ingredients. They also need help with dealing with and understanding issues such as maintaining body warmth, detecting signs of illness in their children, the importance of breastfeeding, and general good hygiene and sanitation practices.
These concepts should also be incorporated into the curriculum from a young age so that it becomes common knowledge and can be allowed to permeate through the collective consciousness of the people living in villages and towns that otherwise would not be as informed.
In order to be healthy in a modern world, you need the right tools and equipment
Sometimes simply possessing the knowledge of good health and hygiene practices is not enough though. You may need tools, however simple they may be.
The problem with this is that many people living in poverty cannot simply walk into their local health care store and purchase these things.
That is why we should support programs like giving out simple hygiene kits, containing things like soap, towels, cotton cloths, combs, nail clippers, shampoo, drinking mugs, buckets, and large plastic containers for safe storage of drinking water.
These kits could also be given out to victims of natural disasters such as the recent tragedy in Myanmar (Burma) or war torn villages in Iraq, rural Afghanistan etc, who have lost their homes and simply do not have their usual tools or items used for hygiene.
More Healthcare Professionals Needed
In the ever-changing world of medical science, it takes expertly trained and highly skilled professionals to properly understand and administer advanced medicines and procedures. That is why it is so important to ensure that there is a steady influx of new doctors, nurses and the facilities for them to work in.
Bringing more doctors from around the world to serve the needs of the less fortunate is an important undertaking. Through the UN/World Bank etc, programs should be offered to give the chance for any doctor to choose to make a difference and provide their services abroad.
Additionally, through international and government funding, new facilities and programs to train local doctors and recruit new workers in to the healthcare profession must be offered.
Many nations around the world are in dire need of more healthcare professionals.
The doctor-to-patient ratio in Singapore is roughly 1 doctor per 651 people (source; http://www.singapore-window.org/sw07/070221A1.HTM).
The doctor-to-patient ratio in Afghanistan is less than 1 doctor per 1000 people (source; http://www.care.org/newsroom/specialreports/afghanistan/a_facts.asp).
The doctor-to-patient ratio in Pakistan is almost 1 doctor in 2000 people, with some parts of the country as low as 1 doctor per 5,000 people (source; http://www.dawn.com/2005/08/25/nat18.htm).
When compared with the international standard of 1 in 500 people, these numbers clearly need to be addressed in order to ensure that all people have access to adequate healthcare.
New Technologies, New Facilities
Investments in mobile health initiatives such as the one undertaken recently in Peru called the Cell-Preven project should be made, (http://student.bmj.com/issues/07/12/life/436.php) in which a mobile health team, consisting of a small group of trained health professional and workers are dispatched to select communities. People there can get check-ups, on the spot screening for diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, treatment of sexually transmitted infections as well as medical care for female sex workers.
The teams are connected through satellite communications or internet/mobile phones (where available) to doctors in other areas, where information can be shared between the two teams and further assistance be given in real-time.
This and other similar marriages of field teams and modern technology could benefit the poor in a huge way. In the past in their rural villages and communities, access to modern healthcare facilities wasn’t be possible, now it is possible for those facilities to come to them.