Where primary health care facilities are not staffed nor stocked, the goal of Health For All by 2000 is a fraud. Inadequate utilization of existing health services and mismanagement of scarce resources are two flat tires on the road to health. Poverty, ignorance and disease form a vicious cycle. High birth risks are associated with poverty, minority status, and teenage moms. Never do for people what they can do for themselves.
Poverty has a worldwide gender bias.
The most important assets of a health care professional are excellent communication skills, compassion for the suffering and a basic understanding of the health sciences. The United States is populated by a significant number of Third World people, like my neighbors. In the USA, we must train 17 physicians to get one to work in an underserved area. In the next 10-15 years, half of all USA primary care physicians will retire. Primary care doctors take care of undifferentiated problems in multidimensional settings.