Intro to Global Health Delivery

Global healthcare disparities, especially in impoverished nations, arise from a multitude of factors that are beyond the control of the affected individuals. An Introduction to Global Health Delivery by Joia Mukherjee discusses the various causes for these disparities, as well as sustainable solutions. 

The book opens with a gut-wrenching statement: Someone born in Japan can expect to live a long life of up to 80 years, while someone in Sierra Leone can expect to live a mere 50 years. The reason for this shocking fact, as Jared Diamond’s geographic luck theory states, is that some people are just born luckier than others. This can be seen through the study of Social Medicine, which states that there is a correlation between socioeconomic status and healthcare outcomes. Social medicine also highlights a topic called structural violence, which is a type of violence where people suffer due to social structures or organizations that make it difficult for people to achieve their fundamental necessities.  Prominent examples of structural violence are seen in the transatlantic slave trade and 100s of years of colonialism in Africa, which has only exacerbated the disparities in global health. 

Fortunately, there are solutions to these disparities. The book discusses the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals that were created by the World Health Organization. The MDGs were able to achieve some progress in 3 out of the 8 goals (child health, women’s health, and infectious disease care, with the 6th goal (combating HIV and aids) having the most progress. However, in order to achieve all 8 MDGs, significant improvements to existing healthcare systems are required. As a result, the new Sustainable development goals were created.  There are 17 SDGs are geared towards combating global health inequalities (can be found at:https://sdgs.un.org/goals).  In order to achieve these goals, the Global Burden of Disease, which describes the quantity of certain diseases and their impact on various populations, needs to be utilized in order to improve existing healthcare systems. 

Global healthcare inequities and disparities may seem extremely difficult to resolve, but with the creation of achievable goals and by creating and improving healthcare infrastructure, progress towards eliminating healthcare inequities can be made.