3 statements represent the perception of how the world works:

Having money equals a better life.

People in high income countries live longer and better than people
in low income countries.
Working harder leads to more money which means more health
and well being.
These statements are false.

In fact, the global economy is based in a profit driven system. This

system is reliant on cheap labour and resource costs to maximise
profit margins. Ongoing consumerism is needed to sustain growth
that is needed to keep production profitable. In an increasingly
interconnected globalised world, businesses look to hire workers
and source resources at the cheapest price (Indian labourers in
Gulf states). Those with resources are able to outbid those with
less and decide what is invested in.

Global donor spending in health aid has steadily risen over the last
decade. (1) Unfortunately many conditions such as the neglected
tropical diseases, such as Schistosomiasis, that cause harm in
primarily low income countries with poor resources are only treated
through donations (2). The skewed funding in global health
financing towards certain conditions such as HIV/AIDS, TB and
Malaria (2) ignores the conditions and issues that cause the highest
amount of deaths worldwide - non communicable diseases (1).

Donor aid is likely to stagnate after the current COVOD 19 crisis as

it did in 2010-2012 after the economic crash of 2008 (4). Many low
income countries, dependant on aid to provide services for their
people, are therefore vulnerable (1). The typical idea out of this
dependance is to promote economic growth .

Economic growth in a globalised world means industrial

development, urbanisation and air pollution. Migration issues can
lead to political dissent. Working profit driven people have less time
for leisure activities and their families. Sedentary lifestyles develop
and risk factors for non communicable diseases increase (3). The
push to work harder exposes people to greater ill health. If there is
no social net to catch them - as in many low and lower middle
income countries - then they must often pay huge out of pocket
expenses for medical costs which can severely cause financial ruin
(5) further entrenching them in the cycle to work and sacrifice to
make profit.

As socioeconomic status directly impacts on all aspects of health,

disparities in wealth have been shown to lead to higher mortality
and morbidity rates not just in low income countries but also in
lower resourced and poorer people and communities around the
world. This is especially evident in emerging evidence of the COVID
19 effect on populations with black, hispanic and underprivileged
populations in the UK and USA having higher mortality rates (6).

As governments around the world struggle to deal with the

perceived effects of COVID 19 and the economic consequences of
the lockdowns they have imposed, the established order of wealthy
vs poor nations/marginalised populations is set to become more
entrenched and can only be changed by changing to a sustainable
resource based economic system.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?
pii=S0140-6736%2819%2930841-4

2. https://www.who.int/research-observatory/monitoring/inputs/
neglected_diseases_country/en/

4. https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l2185

5. https://ourworldindata.org/financing-healthcare

6.Association Between State-Level Income Inequality and

COVID-19 Cases and Mortality in the USA; J Gen Intern Med
35(9):2791–3 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-020-05971-3 © Society of
General Internal Medicine 2020