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| >> Foreign Aid in the National Interest >> Chapter 3 >> Implications of trends for future directions |
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Jump to Chapter 3 Sections:
Families: Keeping bread-winners healthy and taking care of parentsWith a changing age structure, there is opportunity for an expansion of focus from women of reproductive age and children under five to the family as a unit that encompasses both traditional and emerging health concerns. The absolute number of under fives will decline in the first (and larger) group of developing countries with improved health care. In many regions, the numbers of youth will rise, at least until 2020, when the demographic bulge of this group will move into mid-adulthood. Grandparents and great aunts and uncles will survive middle age. Whether they live independently or with their mature children, their health problems will become a concern for family bread-winners. The health problems of the mature, productive age populations will impact family life and economic viability. The elderly will live longer and develop their own health care needs and demands. When both aging dependents and productive breadwinners are chronically ill, then a family’s future is bleak indeed. Hence, the importance of health strategies that aid economic growth. A full picture of resource flows also makes clear that families finance health care. Their choices about sources of care and therapeutics influence the health care market. Their expenditures power the directions of both content and availability of services. The near-term challenge is to learn more about families including the problems they face, their aspirations and how they are adapting to changes in living patterns and health status. How are they allocating their resources to meet changing demands and how can foreign assistance help that process? page 3 |
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