The health care sector plays a vital role in the development of a country social-economic status among individuals as it addresses challenges such as diseases, poverty, and mortality rates facing a population. The health sector in the 21^st Century is of significance especially in determining the nature and status of individuals in the population more so in their contributions to the economic development in a region. Due to various changes and high expectations among the patients and differences in their need, the health sectors is expected to raise its bar by setting high standards for services delivery and improving the standards of facilities to meet the clients high demands.

                Many countries are experiencing numerous challenges in the health care sector, but in the modern world today, a few developed countries have managed to fight these challenges though this is not reflected in the developing countries. Developing countries heavily rely on developed countries for technology, scientific research on drugs and vaccine for different diseases particularly chronic diseases. These countries are still faced with multiple challenges that continue to pose a threat to the health care as more qualified staffs are required in health service, funding for research, and need for new technology for emanating new chronic diseases.

Ageing population is also among future expected challenges in the health care due emerging cases of increased life expectancy. According to Bock, A.K. et al., (2003) European countries and the US predicts the rising cost of health care expenditure in the future due to increased diseases such as Alzheimer’s’s and Parkinson’s among the ageing society (Bock, A. K. et al., 2003). As a result, more states demands extra funding for health care facilities in their financial year budget.

Inadequate medical skill is also viewed as a major challenge in the future. Through a survey conducted by World Health Organization, (2007) the world is faced with a shortage of 2.4 million health care professionals especially doctors and nurses (WHO, 2007). As the population growth rate increases in areas such as developing countries more professional, highly trained will be required to fight emerging chronic diseases and also in research.

The use of new technology is also paramount in the health sector, but due to the emergence of new diseases there is dire need for highly trained professionals to deliver high quality and efficiency in service delivery. Sikorski, (2009) argued that the safety of patients and access to high quality can only be successful if the workplace safety in health facilities is given high priority (Sikorski, 2009). ICT is considered to have contributed to high efficiency in treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer. This, therefore, demands innovation of high-quality treatment machines in the future mainly for emerging chronic diseases. This is perceived to pose a major challenge in the future as delays for these innovations may lead to more deaths even with the presence of improved health sector.

Poor policies within the health sector may be a major challenge if the current policies are not reviewed. These policies fail to address all the concerned parties in the heath sector mainly providers of services such as the therapist, nurses, physicians and social workers. This is feared that in the new future there might be a lot of inconsistency of service in the health sector. In the current situation, lack of integration of services within the health sector, if not addressed, may continue to threaten future services in the health sector. This may require for joint training in order have standard services that are of high quality to meet the client’s demands.

Lack of preparedness for natural calamities is also seen as a future challenge in the health care. Many countries around the world are faced with natural calamities that require experienced medical attention. In many cases, some countries are unable to deal with such situations due to lack of emergency centers especially in the developing countries. Development of emergency centers would help in dealing with preventable cases of deaths in times of such a disaster. But due to insufficient funds many countries have not successfully managed to set up such centers, and therefore this continue to a poses a threat in the health sector even in the future.

Conclusion

The challenge in the health sector is a global threat to life for human population. It is, therefore, the responsibility of key stakeholder in the health sector to take measures to what can be done to prevent health challenges in the future. The governments must play their roles in preventing some of the majors’ challenges in the health sector that can lead increased mortality rates. The government especially in the most hit regions should establish a center that would deal with cases of emergencies in the health sector as well as improved research centers.

References

Bock, A. K., Ibarreta, D., Rodriguez-Cerezo, E. (2003) ESTO/IPTS Report ‘Human tissue-

engineered products – today’s markets and future prospects’. Seville: IPTS- Institute for

Prospective Technological Studies

WHO (2007) Strengthening Health Systems to Improve Health Outcomes, WHO’s Framework

for Action.

Sikorski, J. (2009). ‘Connecting Worker Safety to Patient Safety: A New Imperative for Health-

Care Leaders’. Leadership, January-February. Available at:

http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/connecting-worker-safety-to-patient-

safetya-new-imperative-for-health-care-leaders.