State the importance of improving accessibility of health care facilities in a country.
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Answer:
The need to improve the quality of and access to affordable healthcare in emerging markets is pronounced. Nearly three out of four chronic diseases occur in low and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and the rise of the middle class in emerging markets will only add to the pressure.
Developing countries are acutely aware of the challenges this represents for their economies, but face a series of challenges to delivering universal healthcare to their 5.8bn citizens. One is financing. Public risk-sharing and insurance coverage mechanisms, for instance, tend to be paid for through taxes and worker salaries, making them largely inaccessible to the 60-70% of those in emerging market countries who work outside the formal economy. In addition, the rise of chronic diseases — India now has the largest number of diabetics in the world, with China in second place — is forcing a rethinking of how the existing healthcare asset base, initially designed to deal with acute care, should be used. Lack of preventive care and little chronic disease management, meanwhile, lead to sicker patients, resulting in more expensive care and adding pressure to the financial side of the equation.