Health, Economic Status & Poverty
"Nutrition has an important bearing on the economic development prospects of people, communities and countries" (Skolnik, 2019)
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita
According to Investopedia, GNI per capita the "total amount of money earned by a nation's people and businesses. It includes the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) plus the income it receives from overseas sources" (Cheng, 2021).
The figure to the left shows the enormous gap between the GNI per capita of the US and Haiti. The most recent value reported for both countries is $65,910 for the US while $1,250 for Haiti ("GNI per capita", 2020). It can be noticed how the GNI of the US significantly increased from 1960 to 2019. As for Haiti's, it remained remained relatively low over the years and has very little increase from 1980 to 2020. This only shows the health disparity between the two countries.
("GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) - Haiti, United States | Data", 2020)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
("GDP (current US$) - Haiti, United States | Data", 2021)
GDP is defined as "the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period" (Boyle, 2021). The graphics above show a comparison between the gross domestic product (GDP) of Haiti and the US. The GDP of the US is almost $21 trillion compared to Haiti's almost $13.5 billion ("GDP (current US$)", 2021). Once again, the US has exponentially increased their GDP since 1960. Whereas Haiti had its ups and downs in the course of time. Nevertheless, the huge difference clearly indicates the wide gap between the economy of the two countries.
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The numerous natural disasters that had happened in Haiti such as the massive earthquake in 2010, hurricanes in the previous years, and prolonged drought due to El Niño, caused the country to continuously rebuild its infrastructure and buildings which then severely impacted its economy ("Haiti: Nutrition Profile", 2021). Along with this, studies conducted have indicated that losses from deficiencies in individual micronutrients can cost 1 percent to 2 percent of GDP, and that losses from stunting can be as high as 8 percent to 10 percent of GDP (Skolnik, 2019). Hence, the poor health of the Haitians are hurting their economy.
GDP spent on Healthcare
"Health is an important contributor to people's ability to be productive and to accumulate the knowledge and skills they need to be productive, known as human capital" (Skolnik, 2019)
The graph to the right shows the percentage of each countries' GDP spent on healthcare. In 2018, the US spent 16.89% of its GDP on healthcare and as stated above, their GDP is in trillions which means they spend so much in this department ("Current health expenditure", 2021). The textbook states the most high-income countries such as the US spend comparatively high of their GDP on health ranging from 9-12% (Skolnik, 2019). However, Kurani states, "The United States spends significantly more on healthcare than comparable countries, and yet has worse health outcomes" (2020). In Haiti, it is reported that they spent 7.69% of their GDP on healthcare in 2018 ("Current health expenditure", 2021). This means they spend a low share of their GDP on health which reflects on their low life expectancy as written in the Health Indicators page.
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Investing on health expenditure is undoubtedly important. However, spending more does not mean that a country would have a better health outcomes like previously stated in the US. Skolnik explains that a country's health status depends on various matters such as genetic, social, economic factors, and on what they spend their money on (2019). He further writes "Countries that invest wisely in addressing the social determinants of health will also have better health outcomes at lower levels of expenditure on health than countries that fail to pay appropriate attention to the social determinants" (Skolnik, 2019).
("Current health expenditure (% of GDP) - United States, Haiti | Data", 2021)