May 19 2008
Health care systems: Honduras and Ireland
Though they are located in the same part of the world, the health care systems in Ireland and Honduras couldn’t be more different. While Ireland is a wealthy, first world country, Honduras is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. 75% of Honduras’ population lives below the poverty line, many in isolated, rural areas where hospitals and doctors are not easily accessible. Ireland’s medical system has access to technology and skill that aren’t available in third world countries like Honduras. A big question to ask when comparing two countries like these is: does the wealth of the country have anything to do with the skill of the doctors there? Most resources say yes.Due to it’s status as one of the world’s poorest countries, Honduras doesn’t have many medical training facilities. The majority of the doctors there where either trained elsewhere, or are foreign volunteers. Ireland is also considered to have limited training facilities, but this is by first world standards, compared to Honduras, Ireland has an excess of medical schools. Also, many doctors who are native to Ireland find work overseas. This could be due to the demanding requirements placed on doctors in Ireland. The Irish Medical Council requires many qualifications before even considering signing on a doctor, and all doctors have to be registered with the Medical Council to find work. Even if they possess the requirements, doctors have to undergo a thorough examination every three years, to ensure that their medical knowledge is up to date. This ensures that only the best in medicine treatment and care for Ireland’s patients. Not so in Honduras however. Many native doctors are trained on the job, as apprentices to another doctor. Many surveys reveal that simple hygienic procedures, such as washing hands in between surgeries, are not followed. Even well qualified doctors who volunteer there from other countries are limited, due to the lack of resources Honduras has to offer them.
Undoubtedly, the condition of the hopitals is directly related to the wealth of the country. In most of Ireland’s hospitals, the conditions are reported to be clean and safe, and, like the doctors themselves, hospitals have to undergo yearly examinations. However, this is not the case in all of Ireland’s hospitals. Last year, hundreds of nurses went on strike against poor working conditions and low wages, in Ireland. In some hospitals, whole wards had to be closed down due to lack of workers. Though Ireland’s medical system has sufficient funding, some hospitals still have very limited, fundamental resources, such as beds, showers, and restrooms. In Honduras, this is the case in nearly every hospital. There are few private hospitals in which the conditions are better, but the majority of the country’s population can’t afford to pay for private health care. Therefore, most people turn to volunteer medical clinics set up by organizations from other countries. Here, though the conditions may not be satisfactory, patients can have surgeries and examinations preformed free of charge. Many of these small clinics grow as new medical equipment is donated or bought by humanitarian organizations. But many patients get sick while in the hospital, on top of whatever ailment they already had. Lack of running water, and close living conditions makes for regular flu epidemics. While we would consider a stomach bug minor, and maybe not even see a doctor for it, in Honduran hospitals, they can get serious. Malnutrition also becomes a serious problem for patients in small, poverty ridden hospitals.
The doctor to patient ratio could also have something to do with the quality of the care administered to patients. In Ireland, the doctor to patient ratio is 1:1000. In Honduras, the ratio is 1:4500. 1% of Ireland’s population is on a waiting list, due to lack of space, or lack of doctors. Often, appointments scheduled months in advance are canceled due to lack of beds in the hospital wards. The ratio of nurse to patient is around 1:6 or 1:7 in most hospitals, because the hospital is not willing to pay for a ratio of 1:3, to meet the standards set down by the Medical Council. There has been a debate in Ireland over whether to pay doctors based on the number of patients they see an hour. Some say that this would get more patients in sooner, while others argue that this would only lead to lower quality in care for the patients. Honduras has over 7 million residents, and while it is a major tourist site for scuba diving, there is only 1 decompression chamber in the entire country. Honduras has 33 general hospitals, and an estimated 184 residents per square mile. Even with the volunteer based medical centers, most of Honduras is cut off from medical aid. 73% of Honduran hospitals have fewer than 100 beds, and many do not have running water, or glass in the windows, or adequate medical equipment.
Although Ireland’s health care system may not be considered the best among other European countries, it easily surpasses that of Honduras. From research, there are several conclusions that we can safely draw. The first is, that due to limited medical colleges in Ireland, would-be doctors go overseas to train, and then find work there, leaving Ireland with a shortage of skilled doctors. This could perhaps be remedied if new training centers were instituted into the medical economy. The next conclusion is that, although Honduras gets an incredible amount of support from other countries, it simply doesn’t have the resources to retain the number of qualified doctors, nurses and hospitals its population needs. This problem cannot be so simply cured. The last, most important conclusion is that Ireland does indeed, have a more effective health care system that not only reaches more of the population, but has more of an impact on the economy.
