The Complexities of Healthcare In Developing Countries

Efficient healthcare service delivery can’t occur without adequate patient follow-up to ascertain patient adherence to treatment and to ensure any complication is detected early. Undeniably, structural barriers to healthcare access challenge efficient healthcare delivery in developing countries. When addressing this issue, it is essential to understand that healthcare delivery is not the sole solution to healthcare in developing countries. While promoting healthcare through health education and awareness, addressing the common patient barriers to healthcare in developing countries (such as Nigeria, India, Ghana, etc.) is essential. These include cultural beliefs, fear, and the cost of healthcare. Considering the wide range of information on various medical conditions; certain health conditions like diabetes are still being poorly managed in developing countries. Is this solely related to the structure of healthcare? Or are there other barriers involved?  Ignoring patient barriers such ascultural beliefs, cost of healthcare, distance from patient’s home to clinics, inefficient emergency response team, fear and lack of transportation will worsen healthcare delivery in these countries.

Culture Appropriate Education: Health education and awareness programs must address the cultural and social dimensions of healthcare to catalyze behavioural changes on a societal scale. Healthcare transportations can be provided through rural outreach, and by utilizing local and community workers to educate residents about treatment options.

Integrated Medicine & Local Healthcare Access: Local clinics and various subspecialties can form partnerships, creating physician network groups. This collaborative approach will enhance  continuum patient care, efficiently managing patients while alleviating their fears and financial burdens, especially for those with multiple health conditions. This strategy offers a promising path toward improved healthcare delivery in developing countries.

Patient Medication Management & Adherence: Medication management is vital to patient care. Losing patients to follow-up and poor adherence to medications are factors that contributed to the emergence of drug resistance diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria.

To reduce these complexities and barriers, patient education must be localized and culturally implemented to encourage patients in these parts of the world to pay adequate attention to their health and adhere to treatment and follow-up.