The costs of medical care are skyrocketing. Governments are grappling with the rising costs in how to provide healthcare and cancer patients are struggling to get the care they need. Where is the unfolding national and global healthcare crisis headed and what will our healthcare look like in the future? According to the World Bank, the healthcare gap between rich and poor countries remains steady and warns the trend is likely to continue without some type of fundamental change in how we care for people in less-prosperous countries. Jean-Louis Sarbib, vice president for the World Bank's division that produced the new report, is quoted as saying, "This inequity has tremendous consequences for the health of the world's poor." It is predicted that the world's population is expected to grow from 6 billion today to a projected 7.5 billion by 2020, with most of the growth expected to be in developing countries.
There are no easy answers. The report suggests that the universal or near-universal health coverage model developed in economically prosperous countries could be used in developing countries. However, economic growth is needed to move toward universal coverage, and developing countries face economic challenges that don't seem to make this a viable solution. The cancer death rates in developing countries is much different than it is in the industrialized nations. In my opinion, it is only a matter of time before the people in prosperous nations begin to experience what people in developing countries are facing now because the healthcare systems in place aren't working very well in any country. When it comes to healthcare, the gap between the rich and the poor and the differences in the quality of healthcare received is being experienced in the richest nations. The growing healthcare crisis needs a fresh set of innovative ideas where all people get equal healthcare and the best in healthcare is available to everyone. I don't have the answers but I hope there are think tanks working to solve this problem before it gets worse.
