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Call To Action
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (English Standard Version, 1 John 4.7-8). God calls all of his followers to praise his name by providing light to those who live in the darkness, yet many ignore the call. Thousands of God’s children live every day without the comforts of equitable healthcare, and though their cries for help may appear to be faint, their voices are nothing short of a roar to God. We too should hear this roar for it resounds from every corner of the globe - from the marshes of Vietnam to the plains of Africa. It is time to act.
So many go without rudimentary healthcare that we find standard in America. In the June of 2015, 400 million people reported to be without easy access to healthcare (New Report Shows). That is larger than the population of the entire United States (324.46 million). All across the globe people are dying unnecessary deaths to curable diseases. Five thousand Haitians died of Tuberculosis in 2016, which has had a cure for half a century (Redmond). In Southeast Asia, 120 million children need to be wormed periodically in order to remain healthy (Hotez). Each day thirty thousand children die of curable diseases in Africa (Scholten). It is absolutely necessary for interventions to be made in order to counteract these ailments. Inaccessible healthcare complete isolates millions immersing them in a world full of unnecessary hardships. Hundreds of countries face major shortages in healthcare workers causing major isolation of the impoverished within largely populated regions. For example, within Mumbai the doctor-patient ratio is seventy five thousand to one (Balarajan). Add to this the fact that healthcare services favor the rich and the entirety of the poor population becomes unable to access general healthcare. This poverty diminishing system causes a whole slew of consequences. In Haiti, where the ration is ten thousand to one, the mortality rate of children under five years is sixty nine percent (“World Development Indicators”). In Africa one out of twenty two women are expected to die in childbirth within a system that only provides one worker for every thousand citizens (Scholten). It is crucial to make reforms to these poorly supported systems in order to prevent these unnecessary casualties. Many countries do not supply near enough funding for their healthcare systems, and because of this the impoverished are further diminished. India is one major example of this. Out of pocket expenditure for Indian citizens is 75% while the government spends only 1.2% of their GDP on health expenditure (“Primary Healthcare in India”). On average, this leads to Indians who are put on bed rest to spend 48% of their yearly income on one week in the hospital (Balarajan). India is not alone when it comes to low government support of healthcare. Vietnam spends a mere 3.9% of its income on a nation in desperate need of easily accessible pharmaceuticals (“World Development Indicators”). Without proper support these systems will never be able to support their growing populations in the future. God’s children are crying for help, and we need to answer the call. Curable diseases ravage developing countries. Inaccessible healthcare ravage the impoverished. Expensive pharmaceuticals isolate the poor. It is time for change. As God’s people we should be called to act. It is time. Balarajan, Yarlini, S. Selvaraj, and S. V. Subramanian. "Health Care and Equity in India." Lancet. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 05 Feb. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2017. Hotez, Peter J., et al. "Neglected tropical diseases among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): overview and update." PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, vol. 9, no. 4, 2015. Academic OneFile "New Report Shows That 400 Million Do Not Have Access to Essential Health Services." WHO. World Health Organization, 12 June 2015. Web. 27 Jan. 2017. "Primary Healthcare in India." Asian Hospital & Healthcare Management, 1 May 2012. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=5166pchs&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA308557237&it=r&asid=c75698ce95309e018b6b58c37bb8d4e2. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017. Redmond, Helon. "HAITI AND HEALTH CARE." Plenty International. Plenty International, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. Scholten, Bruce. "Riders for health: delivering healthcare in Africa." Geography Review, Feb. 2011, p. 10+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=5166pchs&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA248827665&asid=1f41a3440d46a5290e58305ad39a2835. Accessed 1 Mar. 2017. The Bible. English Standard Version "World Development Indicators." World Development Indicators| World DataBank. World Data Bank, 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
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