Review article
POVERTY AS AN INFLUENTIAL FACTOR FOR ILL PERINATAL HEALTH
Asim Kurjak
; University Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics, Sv. Duh Hospital, Zagreb
Abstract
Poverty is one of the most influential factors for ill health, and ill health – in a vicious cycle – can lead to poverty. Education has proven to be a critical strategy to break this cycle. There is a two-way link between poverty and health. Illness impairs learning ability and quality of life, has a negative impact on productivity, and drains family savings. Poor people are more exposed to environmental risks (poor sanitation, unhealthy food, violence, and natural disasters) and less prepared to cope with them. Because they are also less informed about the benefits of healthy lifestyles, and have less access to them as well as to quality health care, they are at greater risk of illness and disability. Maternal, infant and child mortality illustrate the largest gaps between the rich and the poor in today’s world. There are between 7 and 8 million perinatal deaths, but we do not know exactly how many are stillbirths and how many are early neonatal deaths. In many cases, births of infants who die soon after birth are neither recorded nor counted. Although exact medical causes in countries may differ, the problem is simple: the common denominator for those deaths is the lack of appropriate and quality services, confounded by poverty.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
62094
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2008.
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