The Influence Of Macroeconomics In The Health Sector

The influence of macroeconomics in the health sector

Introduction

When talking about macroeconomics, it is evident that it is about decisions on a larger scale, how the economy goes nationally and global. When looking for the concept in the literature, it can be found that, according to Parkin and Loria, macroeconomy refers to the performance of the economy both nationally and global (Parkin & Loria Díaz, 2010). The macroeconomic variables to be treated in this essay are the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation and economic growth in Mexico, as well as some general points with respect to the global economy.

Developing

Economic growth, according to Parkín and Loria, is closely related to technological development and capital accumulation rather than with the production of goods and services. They even propose that "the decrease in today’s consumption is the opportunity cost of an increase in tomorrow’s consumption" (Parkin & Loria Díaz, 2010). This means that if more resources begin to allocate to technological development than to production, there will be economic growth due to innovation and problem solving through technological advances. On the other hand, if more invested in production, there will be no progress in technology that will improve the economy, and there will be a stagnation of economic growth.

However, just as economic growth influences the health sector, the health sector can influence economic growth.

According to Monterubbianesi, there are theories in which health is taken as a relevant element of economic growth and, therefore, as a determinant of the quality of life of different populations. Now, in order to make a more successful analysis, the health status has been related to the income level, and then to relate the health status with economic growth. As well as the level of income, there are more channels of economic growth influences. For example, human capital is important to generate health, or the health of workers so that they can support their homes and thus improve their quality of life and maintain their health. Then, a person can work and study if they have good health, and thus increase human capital, and with it economic growth (Monterubbianesi, 2014).

Now, it is known that there are six ways of the influence of health on economic growth. The first is the efficiency in productivity that establishes that healthier workers will be more productive. The second is life expectancy because it influences the skill depreciation rate. The following ways establish that a better state of health allows better academic preparation and better job performance. The last way speaks of a better income distribution, in order to reach a company without inequalities. In summary, a decrease in health level causes a drop in the job offer and, on the other hand, resources are used to generate health (Monterubbianesi, 2014).

On the other hand, this phenomenon is also seen in reverse. That is, economic growth also has its impact on the health sector. It has already been mentioned that a country grows economically by investing more in technologies and mainly research, but it can also grow due to an increase in investments and production. All this will generate resources for the country, resources that can be allocated to improve the health system and population care. The OECD states that this health expense must mean 6% of the GDP of a country (Mendoza Escamilla, 2019). Similarly, the population will have more money to personally take care of caring, maintaining and improving their health.

Another variable that must be mentioned is GDP or Gross Domestic Product, which allows a vision of the economic evolution of a country and can be used as a guide to make decisions (INEGI, 2019). The Bank of Mexico defines GDP as the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a given period (Bank of Mexico, 2019). Therefore, this parameter can reflect the productivity of a country. It can also be used for decision -making, for example, decide whether to expand activities to generate more jobs, or change the course of activities.

When focusing on the situation in Mexico, you can start to mention that public health expenditure is only 2.5% of GDP, although the OECD establishes that 6% of GDP to health should be allocated. In addition, far from improving, the situation is only getting worse because this percentage continues to descend with each six -year period. From the increase in public health expenditure in Mexico, a better health system is expected that supports the entire population in terms of prevention and treatment, as well as public health measures such as the installation of mosquito nets or health campaigns. So, it can be intuit that the goal of a health system is not only to see for the well -being of the population, but also establish equality within the population, in which anyone can access health services. Clearly, it would not be sustainable that the government contributed all resources, but it is important that it will provide the base and infrastructure to achieve the objective (Mendoza Escamilla, 2019).

The last variable to be mentioned is inflation, which according to the Bank of Mexico is defined as a disorderly increase in the prices of most goods and services for a prolonged period of time (Bank of Mexico, 2019). By increasing prices and remaining the income of the population, people find difficulties in acquiring certain goods or services, so that they have to start prioritizing so as not to fall into economic chaos.

Starting from this definition and when it is in the current context of Mexico, medical inflation of approximately 14% has been noted according to the general director of Insurance Monerrey, New York Life. This implies an increase in the general health cost, including fees, hospitals and treatments (Saldívar, 2018). The increase in medical costs is due to the devaluation of the national currency in relation to other stronger currencies in medication producing countries (Calva, 2019). Thus, taking into account the costs of treatment and monitoring of chronic degenerative diseases, it can be clearly observed that they are the most expensive diseases to treat in the population. To intervene in this situation, positive health behaviors must be encouraged, and educate the population to know. Ideally, there will be cooperation of the two parties, the government and the population, without any of these components the improvement is impossible. For example, for more resources that the government allocates to the treatment of these diseases, if the population does not take care of their health, more cases will be worsened and more cases arise. Or no matter how much the population wants to treat their illness or improve their habits, if the government does not provide the right environment, this will be impossible. Thus, prevention is fundamental in a health system, so as not to let the population fall into a condition of disease and either too late to reverse the situation due to the lack of resources.

conclusion

In conclusion, economic growth impacts health and vice versa, which builds a vicious circle type model because if one fails the other as well, if one stagnates, the other cannot advance, and so on. Because of this, you must find a way to improve both aspects at the same time so as not to strip one to provide the other and achieve balance.