Question

You should be able to answer in 350 words. Give three reasons why health systems are important to attain the 'right to the highest attainable standard of health'? Use examples and explanations from the readings.

readings: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/health/ebola-stricken-countries-lagged-in-health-systems.html

video resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB2EzlKcRIA

Answer 1

Health systems have very crucial role in attaining the “right to the highest attainable standard of health”. Health system is an organization of resources deliver health-related services to the needed population. It differs from country to country. Prevention is the main concept of health care, in which the disease can be prevented before the occurrence of the health event. Thereby the cost treatment and further management of diseases, such as rehabilitation expenses can be minimized.

The main obstacle to attaining the highest level of health is the healthcare expenses. The payment system of healthcare has differed in each nation. In the modern era healthcare became more expensive and complicated. In the US healthcare expense are met by the people themselves by means of insurances. Some sort of government funding is also there like ‘Medicare’ and ‘Medicaid’. Majority of the health expenses in the US is issued by insurance companies, governments or sometimes by employer insurance.

The US government is not taking the leading role in prevention, unlike the UK. People in many states assume that prevention if the duty of themselves. Some NGOs, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare personnel’s, some insurance companies also take part in some sort of preventive care. Services like water purification, food fortification are few examples of preventive measures done by government organizations.

The recent incidence of the spread of Ebola in many countries was caused by the weak healthcare system. The world had utilized around $4 million to meet the Ebola crisis. But it would have been controlled only be utilizing $1.6 million if the preventive systems were used in advance. The NY Times report suggests the lag of healthcare system in Ebola-stricken countries. They have poor per capita expenditure on health and the lack trained personnel also contributes to the low standard of health.

In conclusion, a strong healthcare system is important for the wellbeing of every country. A considerable part of GDP should be invested in preventive health care to minimize the further impact on the health of the population.