Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Where and how populations live (geographic), the traits and changes they exhibit (demographics), and cultural background/perspectives/beliefs (psychographics) directly impact the healthcare system. Social determinants are the key drivers behind all population trends. Social determinants of health that have negative consequences range from chronic stress to poor nutrition to poverty and inadequate living conditions. Where these determinants are a factor, chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and asthma are more prevalent.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

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We can define poverty as the condition where the basic needs of a family, like food, shelter, clothing, and education are not fulfilled. It can lead to other problems like poor literacy, unemployment, malnutrition, etc. A poor person is not able to get education due to lack of money and therefore remains unemployed. An unemployed person is not able to buy enough & nutritious food for his family and their health decline. A weak person lacks the energy required for the job. A jobless person remains poor only. Thus we can say that poverty is the root cause of other problems.
poverty essay Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

What links poverty and poor health?
Poverty and poor health worldwide are inextricably linked. The causes of poor health for millions globally are rooted in political, social and economic injustices. Poverty is both a cause and a consequence of poor health. Poverty increases the chances of poor health. Poor health, in turn, traps communities in poverty. Infectious and neglected tropical diseases kill and weaken millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people each year.

What other links are there between poverty and poor health?
The economic and political structures which sustain poverty and discrimination need to be transformed in order for poverty and poor health to be tackled.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay
Marginalised groups and vulnerable individuals are often worst affected, deprived of the information, money or access to health services that would help them prevent and treat disease.
Very poor and vulnerable people may have to make harsh choices – knowingly putting their health at risk because they cannot see their children go hungry, for example.
The cultural and social barriers faced by marginalised groups – including indigenous communities – can mean they use health services less, with serious consequences for their health. This perpetuates their disproportionate levels of poverty.
The cost of doctors’ fees, a course of drugs and transport to reach a health centre can be devastating, both for an individual and their relatives who need to care for them or help them reach and pay for treatment. In the worst cases, the burden of illness may mean that families sell their property, take children out of school to earn a living or even start begging.
The burden of caring is often taken on by a female relative, who may have to give up her education as a result, or take on waged work to help meet the household’s costs. Missing out on education has long-term implications for a woman’s opportunities later in life and for her own health.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay
Overcrowded and poor living conditions can contribute to the spread of airborne diseases such as tuberculosis and respiratory infections such as pneumonia. Reliance on open fires or traditional stoves can lead to deadly indoor air pollution. A lack of food, clean water and sanitation can also be fatal.
Which infectious diseases are the main killers worldwide?
HIV, diarrhoea, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as communicable respiratory diseases such as pneumonia kill the most people. Diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria account for nearly half of all child deaths globally.

Neglected tropical diseases affect over one billion people, almost all in the poorest and most marginalised communities. You may not have heard of diseases such as leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths and trachoma, but they can cause severe pain and life-long disabilities – and mean enormous productivity losses. However, efforts to tackle them have usually taken a back seat to the bigger killers.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Which are the most deadly non-communicable illnesses worldwide?
The biggest non-communicable killers are maternal and newborn deaths and deaths related to poor nutrition, cardiovascular disease and non-communicable respiratory diseases.

How do disease and infection affect economic growth?
Lives lost mean reduced economic productivity as well as personal tragedy. Productivity is further slowed while people are ill or caring for others. There were 1.7 HIV-related deaths in 2007 and 990 thousand deaths from tuberculosis. Most of these were among young people and adults in their most productive years.
In heavily affected countries billions of dollars of economic activity are lost each year as a result of illness and death from HIV, TB and malaria. This can seriously reduce economic growth in countries that are already struggling. Malaria reduces economic growth by 1.3% in heavily affected countries, and costs around $12 billion in lost GDP across Africa. TB costs around 7% of GDP in the worst affected countries.
How has the global community responded?Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay
World leaders and international organisations have slowly woken up to the impact of the most prevalent infectious diseases. The World Health Organisation has declared TB, HIV and malaria global emergencies. Reducing the spread and treating HIV, TB, malaria, and other diseases is also one of the Millennium Development Goals.

However, as well as tackling specific diseases, it is crucial that leaders also address the underlying causes. It is widely accepted that the key reason for the increase in life expectancy in wealthy countries in the late 19th and early 20th century was less to do with the leaps forward in medical science, and more to do with the arrival of better nutrition, clean water and sanitation.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Reducing poverty, improving nutrition and making sure people have access to safe water and sanitation, as well as strengthening national health systems, is of the utmost importance. Otherwise tackling one particular threat simply leaves people open to another deadly disease soon afterward.

Tackling the structural causes of poverty and poor health, for example calling for measures to tackle inequality and injustices such as corporate tax evasion, are central to what is needed from the global community.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Housing is one of the traditional areas of concern for public health, though it has been relatively neglected over recent decades. However, housing is important for many aspects of healthy living and well-being. The home is important for psychosocial reasons as well as its protection against the elements, but it can also be the source of a wide range of hazards (physical, chemical, biological). It is the environment in which most people spend the majority of their time. A significant development in recent years has been the development of the UK Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) which provides a health-based assessment of housing-related hazards. The wider local environment around the home is also important in terms of fear of crime, the accessibility of services, and the opportunity to be physically active. Increasingly in unstable economic conditions, the affordability of housing and the potential for individuals to lose their home because of debts they are unable to meet has become a problem for large numbers of people.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

HHSRS

Housing Health and Safety Rating System – a health-based risk assessment system for housing (in England and Wales)

Housing fitness

A set of basic requirements that homes should meet in order to be considered as acceptable places to live. Often directly or indirectly based on health criteria

Housing-related hazards

Housing and health

The relationship between housing and health is multi-faceted. A healthy home needs to have sound structure, to be free of hazards, to provide adequate facilities for sleeping, personal hygiene, the preparation and storage of food, to be an environment for comfortable relaxation, for privacy and quiet, and to provide the facility for social exchange with friends, family and others. The local environment is also important in determining such factors as fear of crime, access to local services and facilities and in promoting social interaction.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

HHSRS

One of the most innovative initiatives on housing and health in recent decades has been the development in England (and Wales) of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). This is a health-based risk assessment procedure for residential properties, which replaced (in 2006) the previous housing fitness standard. Local authority Environmental Health Officers conduct risk assessments on rented, social housing and Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs)[1].

The HHSRS is ‘a means of evaluating the potential effect of any faults on the health and safety of occupants, visitors, neighbours and passers-by’.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

The principles which underlie it are that:

any dwelling should be free from both unnecessary and avoidable hazards; and
where any hazard is necessary and unavoidable, then the likelihood of an harmful occurrence and the potential harm which could result should be reduced to a minimum.
The HHSRS identified twenty-four categories of potential housing hazards. Among the more important such hazards are:Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Cold/ inadequate energy efficiency

(1) Cold
In Britain, as in many countries, there is a large winter excess of deaths and morbidity, many of which (around 25,000 deaths a year[2]) are attributable to the direct effects of cold. Although limited, there is some evidence (and good theoretical grounds) to suggest that vulnerability to cold is greater in homes with inadequate insulation / inadequate home heating. Measures to improve domestic energy efficiency and the affordability of home heating (i.e. reducing fuel poverty) are therefore expected to have appreciable benefits to health in terms of mortality and morbidity.

In England it is estimated that around 1 in 18 dwellings are below acceptable energy efficiency standards. The proportion is higher in older dwellings built before energy efficiency considerations were part of building regulation.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Heat

(2) Heat
The relationship between dwelling characteristics and risk of heat mortality/morbidity is not accurately defined, but is becoming an increasingly important consideration given expectations of higher summer temperatures as a result of climate change. Dwellings that have large solar gain (south facing, large windows, rooms directly under poorly-insulted roof space) are likely to develop higher indoor temperatures, and may carry greater risks to health.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Falls and accidents

(3) Falls
A high proportion of accidents occur inside the home, and they are a particular concern for the elderly and children. In England there are around 500 deaths, 230,000 injuries a year from falls on the stairs. Falls on the level (tripping etc) account for 11% of non-fatal accidents and 2% of deaths in home. Although it is difficult to attribute the risk to characteristics of the dwelling, poor design and maintenance is a factor in many falls.

There are around 65,000 fires in dwellings a year, resulting in 600 deaths, and 15,000 non-fatal injuries. Smoke alarms can help reduce deaths and injuries.

Damp and mould

(4) Damp and mould
Interpretation of the epidemiological evidence about the health effects of damp and mould is made more complex because damp and mould tend to be worst in over-crowded dwellings, often occupied by families of low socio-economic status.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

However, damp and mould have repeatedly been linked to a number of health outcomes, including respiratory symptoms, nausea and vomiting and general ill health. Humidity in the dwelling can cause condensation which encourages the growth of fungal spores. Damp is also associated with an increase in house dust mites. Both of these are known allergens. The prevalence of dampness varies considerable from country to country. In Europe, North America, Australia, India and Japan it is estimated that approximately between 10-50% of homes are affected by it.

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Around 1 in 18 dwellings in England has appreciable dampness/mould (WHO 2009).Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Carbon monoxide

(5) Carbon monoxide
Poisoning by carbon monoxide occurs as the result of poorly ventilated and maintained combustion sources (gas boilers, fires etc). In England and Wales there are believed to be around 40 deaths and 250 hospital admissions a year from CO poisoning (Ghosh 2015), but the burden of morbidity and mortality is probably under-estimated in official figures. Figures vary by country, however it is known that children and fetuses are particularly vulnerable. There is uncertainty in the burden of disease due to CO poisoning, however it is thought that there are likely to be significant adverse health effects such as certain neurological symptoms, from chronic low-level exposure to carbon monoxide in the indoor air. A paper by Croxford et al (2008) was the first study to quantify the association between the risk of CO exposure at low levels and the prevalence of community self-reported neurological conditions.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Radon

(6) Radon
Radon represents one of the most important housing-related hazards. It is a naturally-occurring, radioactive gas formed as part of the decay chain of uranium-238. It readily diffuses through air, is soluble in water and it can accumulate inside buildings.

It is a particular problem for dwellings in areas with particular geology (notably the south west and north midlands in the UK[3]). The health hazards are well characterised and result from the short-lived, chemically reactive isotopes of polonium, lead, and bismuth that are its daughter products. When inhaled or formed inside the lungs, these isotopes increase the risk of lung cancer.

Radon is thought to be the most important risk factor for lung cancer in Britain after smoking, accounting for around one in 20 cases. At the action level of 200 Becquerels/metre3, there is approximately a 3% lifetime risk of developing cancer as a result of radon exposure. Other malignancies resulting from these exposures may include leukemia (acute lymphatic leukemia in children) and skin cancer. A number of engineering solutions are possible to reduce radon levels inside the home.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Other risks

Other housing related hazards (mainly with rarer occurrence or small/uncertain health effects) include:

Asbestos and Man-made mineral fibres (MMMF) – a common material in older dwellings, but usually causing low level exposure unless disturbed
Electromagnetic fields (EMF) – a ubiquitous exposure, though of variable intensity; uncertain epidemiological evidence
Lead – mainly in old lead paint and water pipes/solder joints
Chemicals in the home
Other indoor air pollutants (e.g carbon dioxide nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and biomass burning products)Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay
Noise
Electrical hazards
Structural failure
Entrapment or collision
Explosions
Uncombusted fuel gas
Entry by intruders
Hot surfaces and materials
Domestic hygiene, pests etc
Inadequate provision for food safety
Contaminated water
Inadequate lighting
Poor ergonomics
Crowding and space – a potentially very important factor that has bearing on the risks of accidents, fires, dampness and mould, mental well-being and a range of other adverse effects.
Designing for health

There are many factors that contribute to healthy housing (partly governed by building regulation), but there are some trade-offs in design. For example, in general, higher energy efficiency is good for health (especially for lower income families that may struggle with fuel bills), but if energy efficiency means reducing ventilation rates, there may be adverse effects on indoor air quality, condensation and mould growth.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Affordability of housing

In addition to traditional risk factors associated with a dwelling, it should also be remembered that the home is one of the major areas of financial expenditure for families. The lack of affordable housing and threat to many families of losing their home because of debts they are unable to meet has become an increasing problem, and one which often has substantial negative bearings on mental and sometimes physical health.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

How Poverty is Measured?
For measuring poverty United nations have devised two measures of poverty – Absolute & relative poverty. Absolute poverty is used to measure poverty in developing countries like India. Relative poverty is used to measure poverty in developed countries like the USA. In absolute poverty, a line based on the minimum level of income has been created & is called a poverty line. If per day income of a family is below this level, then it is poor or below the poverty line. If per day income of a family is above this level, then it is non-poor or above the poverty line. In India, the new poverty line is Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

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Causes of Poverty
According to the Noble prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”. The above statement is true as the causes of poverty are generally man-made. There are various causes of poverty but the most important is population. Rising population is putting the burden on the resources & budget of countries. Governments are finding difficult to provide food, shelter & employment to the rising population.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

The other causes are- lack of education, war, natural disaster, lack of employment, lack of infrastructure, political instability, etc. For instance- lack of employment opportunities makes a person jobless & he is not able to earn enough to fulfill the basic necessities of his family & becomes poor. Lack of education compels a person for less paying jobs & it makes him poorer. Lack of infrastructure means there are no industries, banks, etc. in a country resulting in lack of employment opportunities. Natural disasters like flood, earthquake also contribute to poverty.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

In some countries, especially African countries like Somalia, a long period of civil war has made poverty widespread. This is because all the resources & money is being spent in war instead of public welfare. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. are prone to natural disasters like cyclone, etc. These disasters occur every year causing poverty to rise.

Ill Effects of Poverty
Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to take proper food & nutrition &his capacity to work reduces. Reduced capacity to work further reduces his income, making him poorer. Children from poor family never get proper schooling & proper nutrition. They have to work to support their family & this destroys their childhood. Some of them may also involve in crimes like theft, murder, robbery, etc. A poor person remains uneducated & is forced to live under unhygienic conditions in slums. There are no proper sanitation & drinking water facility in slums & he falls ill often & his health deteriorates. A poor person generally dies an early death. So, all social evils are related to poverty.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Government Schemes to Remove Poverty
The government of India also took several measures to eradicate poverty from India. Some of them are – creating employment opportunities, controlling population, etc. In India, about 60% of the population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. Government has taken certain measures to promote agriculture in India. The government constructed certain dams & canals in our country to provide easy availability of water for irrigation. Government has also taken steps for the cheap availability of seeds & farming equipment to promote agriculture. Government is also promoting farming of cash crops like cotton, instead of food crops. In cities, the government is promoting industrialization to create more jobs. Government has also opened ‘Ration shops’. Other measures include providing free & compulsory education for children up to 14 years of age, scholarship to deserving students from a poor background, providing subsidized houses to poor people, etc.Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay

Poverty is a social evil, we can also contribute to control it. For example- we can simply donate old clothes to poor people, we can also sponsor the education of a poor child or we can utilize our free time by teaching poor students. Remember before wasting food, somebody is still sleeping hungry. Poverty and Inadequate Living Conditions and Healthcare Essay