Diseases of poverty

Diseases of poverty is a term sometimes used to collectively describe diseases, disabilities, and health conditions that are more prevalent among the poor than among wealthier people. In many cases poverty is considered the leading risk factor or determinant for such diseases, and in some cases the diseases themselves are identified as barriers to economic development that would end poverty. Diseases of poverty are often co-morbid and ubiquitous with malnutrition.

These diseases triggered in part by poverty are in contrast to so-called "diseases of affluence", which are diseases thought to be a result of increasing wealth in a society.

For many environmental and social reasons, including crowded living and working conditions, inadequate sanitation, and disproportionate occupation as sex workers, the poor are more likely to be exposed to infectious diseases. Malnutrition, stress, overwork, and inadequate, inaccessible, or non-existent health care can hinder recovery and exacerbate the disease.Malnutrition is associated with 54% of childhood deaths from diseases of poverty, and lack of skilled attendants during childbirth is primarily responsible for the high maternal and infant death rates among the poor.

Each year many children and adults die as a result of a lack of access to clean drinking water and poor sanitation. Many combinable diseases and many of the poverty related diseases spread as a result of inadequate access to clean drinking water. According to UNICEF, 3,000 children die every day, worldwide due to contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation.

Although the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of people who did not have access to clean water by 2015, was reached five years ahead of schedule in 2010, there are still 783 million people who rely on unimproved water sources. In 2010 the United Nations declared access to clean water a fundamental human right, integral to the achievement of other rights. This made it enforceable and justifiable to permit governments to ensure their populations access to clean water. Though access to water has improved for some, it continues to be especially difficult for women and children. Women and girls bear most of the burden for accessing water and supplying it to their households.

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