Access to
health care may vary across countries, communities, and individuals, influenced by social and economic conditions as well as health policies. Providing
health care services means "the timely use of personal
health services to achieve the best possible
health outcomes". Factors to consider in terms of
healthcare access include financial limitations (such as insurance coverage), geographic barriers (such as additional transportation costs, possibility to take paid time off of work to use such services), and personal limitations (lack of ability to communicate with
healthcare providers,
poor health literacy, low income). Limitations to
health care services affects negatively the use of medical services, the efficacy of treatments, and overall outcome (well-being, mortality rates). Health care systems are organizations established to meet the
health needs of targeted populations. According to the World
Health Organization (WHO), a well-functioning
health care system requires a financing mechanism, a well-trained and adequately paid workforce, reliable information on which to base decisions and policies, and well maintained health facilities to deliver quality medicines and technologies. An efficient
health care system can contribute to a significant part of a country's economy, development, and industrialization.
Health care is conventionally regarded as an important determinant in promoting the general physical and mental health and well-being of people around the world. An example of this was the worldwide eradication of smallpox in 1980, declared by the WHO as the first disease in human
history to be completely eliminated by deliberate
health care interventions
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