La pobreza: un problema global y su relación con la salud

Abstract

Poverty affects individuals and families everywhere in the world. Most of poor people live in the underdeveloped world where they represent one third of the population. Venezuela, with its huge amount of natural resources, high Internal Gross Product, economical growth index, and high per capita income, is one of the poorest countries of the continent. Poverty is defined as the lack of the necessary resources to satisfy the basic social needs or lack of resources to live. Those needs are, in relative order of importance: health, nutrition, housing and dress, education, work, recreation. Also the lack of monetary income, sustainable agriculture, technology, and high rates of children mortality. The World Bank, the Interamerican Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other similar institutions divide poverty in absolute and relative. A minimum consumption basket was established representing the basic social needs of the society in study. Of the 5700 millions of people living actually in the world, about 1300 millions live in poverty. Poverty is due to many factors, among the most important: analphabetism, demographic pressure, health problems, land problems (invasions, migrations, etc.), high dependency in agriculture, climate problems, governmental problems (dictatorships, de facto governments, corruption, anarchy, etc.), and wars. Among the consequences of poverty are: theft, fraud, kidnapping, murder, drug traffic, money laundry, and prostitution. Some possible solutions are given