Illness in the Third World

“Many people, most of them in tropical countries of the Third World, die of preventable, curable disease” (Silverstein). They lack proper care and places to go when they need treatment or feel helpless. A health care program would save the lives of children and adults and provide a safer future and better living conditions for the place they live. Half a million dollars would jumpstart a program to create better health services and provide more resources.
People in the United States actively involved in politics and economics may ask, “Why should we help them if it does not affect us here?” Other countries may not have developed enough in government to be able to provide everything or most things the citizens need. Opportunities the United States have gotten do not come along for every country in the world/ Poverty, famine, war etc. causes setbacks that prevent the economy and government from developing. If we as a country helped with the health of the citizens of another country, which is one more thing that their government will not have to worry about so they could focus on bettering their lives.
People in Third World countries are plagued by diseases. To get a contagious disease, you have to come in contact with the disease. The fast spread of illness in the Third World is caused by unsanitary environments in the cities, on the streets, in their homes and even in the hospitals. Doctors sometimes find themselves reusing the same needle they used on one patient on another patient. When the Ebola outbreak first started, it could have possibly been contained. But, hospital employees put everyone assumed to have Ebola in the same room with Ebola patients, people in areas of poverty living in close quarters are infecting others, and “it is difficult to know if a person has Ebola” so people infect others without knowing (How Diseases like Ebola Spread). Dr. Mukherjee of Columbia University said, “By the time you’re already exuding virus, it’s too late to contain.”
“One infected person typically infects about two others” by physical contact or waste that cannot be cleaned quickly enough (How Diseases like Ebola Spread). “That number can rise if you can’t dispose of medical waste and bodies,” (Mukherjee). Even nurses and doctors are being infected by medical waste and exposure to bodies because they cannot be properly disposed of. This can happen with many other diseases, even if on a smaller scale. Inability to properly dispose of waste is usually due to lack of resources.
Lack of resources is a problem Third World countries have when attempting to treat the ill. For example, Nigeria “has only 17,000 doctors”, not nearly enough to treat the whole population (West Africa Ebola Epidemic). Deadly sicknesses do exist and prevention efforts can stop it. To prevent it, vaccines are needed but, it is something many Third World countries do not have. “People died because the drugs to treat those illnesses are non-existent or are no longer effective.” (Silverstein).
With half a million dollars, we can start a health program for countries in need. Medicine, volunteers and more can affect the country positively, save many lives and provide a safer, more secure future for the countries and its citizens.