Occupational health and navigating global health inequalities

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The pandemic has shone a light on the stark contrasts in healthcare for employers with overseas staff, highlights Sarah Dennis.
Covid-19 has shone a harsh spotlight on the global inequalities of healthcare. Employers with staff in overseas positions are seeing a stark contrast in the care individuals may receive if left to the health system of their host nation.
While this may sometimes be very high-quality care, it may also come at a very high cost. In other areas, staff will not receive the level of care they would expect at home. This is making many employers see that they must ensure their staff are supported and provided with adequate care, and that the costs are fully covered.

Global health disparities

The World Health Organization’s World Health Statistics Report 2021 shows that healthy life expectancy at birth in the United Kingdom is 70.1 years. This compares to 63.7 years globally. Japan has the highest healthy life expectancy at 74.1 years, with Lesotho being the lowest at just 44.2 years.
Irrespective of the pandemic, global health care inequalities are rooted among social, political, economic and gender inequalities and there are stark differences in the spending on healthcare around the world.
Deloitte’s 2021 Global Health Care Outlook report shows that, by 2024, at one end of the scale, the USA is likely to spend US$12,703 per capita on health while, at the other, Pakistan is likely to spend just US$37 per capita.

The disparities in healthcare around