diseases of poverty

Examples of diseases of poverty in the following topics:

• World Health Trends

  • Cholera is a disease of poverty, because it usually develops from poorly protected drinking water sources and is treatable but highly communicable.
  • The main diseases and health conditions prioritized by global health initiatives are sometimes classified under the terms diseases of affluence and diseases of poverty, although the impacts of globalization are increasingly blurring any such distinction.
  • So-called diseases of affluence are predicted to become more prevalent in developing countries, as diseases of poverty decline, longevity increases, and lifestyles change.
  • In contrast, the diseases of poverty tend to consist largely of infectious diseases, often related to poor sanitation, low vaccination coverage, inadequate public health services, and weak enforcement of environmental health and safety regulations.
  • As the above discussion of diseases of poverty and diseases of affluence reveals, health trends are closely related to social, political, and economic patterns.

• The Dynamics of Poverty

  • This perpetuation of deprivation is the cycle of poverty.
  • The basic premise of the poverty cycle the idea that poverty is a dynamic process—its effects may also be its causes.
  • In this way, inadequate or lack of education can perpetuate poverty.
  • Additionally, those living in poverty suffer disproportionately from hunger, or in extreme cases starvation, and also exhibit disproportionately high rates of disease.
  • Finally, poverty increases the risk of homelessness.

• Measuring Poverty

  • Economic measures of poverty focus on material needs, typically including the necessities of daily living such as food, clothing, shelter, or safe drinking water.
  • Poverty in this sense may be understood as a condition in which a person or community is lacking in the basic needs for a minimum standard of well-being, particularly as a result of a persistent lack of income.
  • Social measures of poverty may include lack of access to information, education, health care, or political power.
  • The World Bank uses this definition of poverty to label extreme poverty as living on less than US $1.25 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 or $5 a day.
  • Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of the population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income.

• Poverty

  • Poverty is the condition of not having access to material resources, income, or wealth.
  • Poverty describes the state of not having access to material resources, wealth, or income.
  • Poverty may correspond not only to lack of resources, but to the lack of opportunity to improve one's standard of living and acquire resources.
  • If there is a high level of social mobility, it is relatively easy for people to leave poverty.
  • While some factors that contribute to poverty are the result of individual choices, such as dropping out of school or committing a crime, other factors affect poverty that are beyond individual control.

• The Feminization of Poverty

  • The feminization of poverty refers to the fact that women represent a disproportionate share of the world's poor.
  • Recent attempts to reduce global poverty have utilized systems of microcredit, which give small loans to poor households in an attempt to break the cycle of poverty.
  • Women's increasing share of poverty is related to the rising incidence of lone mother households.
  • Many factors place women at higher risk of poverty than their male counterparts.
  • Though low income is the primary cause of female poverty, there are many interrelated sources of this problem.

• Poverty

  • Poverty is the condition of not having access to material resources, income, or wealth.
  • Near poverty is when one earns up to 25% above the poverty line; put otherwise, a person near poverty has an income below 125% of the current poverty line.
  • Absolute poverty is the level of poverty where individuals and families cannot meet food, shelter, warmth, and safety needs, while relative poverty refers to economic disadvantage compared to wealthier members of society.
  • Poverty may correspond not only to lack of resources, but to lack of opportunity to improve one's standard of living and acquire resources.
  • Countries with low HDI tend to be caught in a national cycle of poverty -- they have little wealth to invest, but the lack of investment perpetuates their poverty.

• Gender and Health

  • While it was unclear what role the sex of the recommending physicians played, the authors of this study encouraged women to challenge their doctors in order to get care equivalent to men.
  • Studies demonstrate the positive impact of girls' education on child and maternal health, fertility rates, poverty reduction and economic growth.
  • There are a number of ways in which health disparities play out based on different systems of stratification.
  • This often means a focus on gender-equality, ensuring participation, but includes an understanding of the different roles and expectations of the genders within the community.
  • As recognized by the United Nations, women's dual responsibilities as carers and income earners leaves them suffering from time poverty, and thus unable to access health and education services.

• Points of View: Micro-Meso-Macro

  • The poverty rate in 2003 was 37 percent including 20 percent who are identified as extremely poor.
  • The country is ranked 38 in the Human Poverty Index by the United Nations.
  • Children born into poor families are at much greater risk of dying during their first year of life from disease, accidents, or violence.
  • Students in central city schools and poverty stricken rural areas often attend rundown schools that lack necessary equipment and teaching materials.
  • Poverty and thoughts related to poverty may take up so many cognitive resources for the poor that it actually impedes cognitive functioning, which accounts, in part, for the lower IQs measured among poor people.

• The Interactionist Perspective

  • An example of the social construction of health the the Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE.
  • This scale measures the intensity of a person's workout on a scale of 0 to 10.
  • During the latter half of the 20th century, however, people who drank too much were increasingly defined as people with a disease or a genetic predisposition to addiction.
  • With alcoholism defined as a disease and not a personal choice, alcoholics came to be viewed with more compassion and understanding.
  • The words "poverty," "misery," "crime," and "death" hang in the air behind him.

• Relative Deprivation Approach

  • Relative deprivation is the experience of being deprived of something to which one feels to be entitled.
  • Some scholars explain the rise of social movements by citing the grievances of people who feel that they have been deprived of values to which they are entitled.
  • A specific form of relative deprivation is relative poverty.
  • A measure of relative poverty defines poverty as being below some relative poverty line, such as households who earn less than 20% of the median income.
  • Notice that if everyone's real income in an economy increases, but the income distribution stays the same, the number of people living in relative poverty will not change.