The combination of an over stretched public healthcare system and Urban poverty is a silent yet formidable threat to social progress. 72 year old lady. Severe lower back problems. Makes a living out of collect waste cans and cardboard. Her younger sister is permanently confined at Hospital Bahagia. Eldest son died of cancer 4 years ago. 2nd son now suffers from gastro intestinal disease that requires monthly surgical treatment and is often incapacitated from work. She has to wait and travel for 3 hours for a bus to get to the general hospital for her treatment. Her case is sadly not unique and far from uncommon. The problem with our apalling public transport aside, there is an overwhlemingly sad reality that people and families like this lady have no plausible and possible way of breaking from the spiralling cycle of poverty. There is an urgent need to explore semi urban healthcare outreach mechanisms especially to pockets of urban poverty concentrations. The State welfare institution operates an outreach counselling/consultation provision; the health ministry also operate primary care facilities in rural areas that are often under utilised. As the urban poor and their healthcare needs increase, and the rapidly increasing urbanisation of our population continues; it is now time to consider a renewed focus on reprioritising the provision of primary public healthcare provision to the semi-urban and urban poor.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 01:59:19 +0000
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