2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

Table 1. Health Facility Statistics in Australia, Botswana, South Africa 2020 Australia Botswana South Africa Public Hospitals 697 26 400 Est. Hospital Beds 92,100 4,200 119,000 Hospital Bed per 1000 3.59 1.8 2.00 Healthcare Gov. Funding $81.8 Billion $1.13 Billion $18.5 Billion Healthcare Gov. Funding per capita $3184 $480 $312 (worlddata, 2020) (AIHW, 2020) (ICI, 2020) As shown in table 1, the contrast between the three nations is clear. In Australia, the quality of healthcare is at a very high standard due to the high number of public hospitals and level of government funding towards healthcare. In 2020, the Australian government funded approximately $81.8 Billion to health which is roughly 10% of the total government expenditure (AIHW, 2020). This is approximately $3184 per capita. However, Botswana’s government funded $1.13 Billion, and $480 per capita. They also have a very low number of public hospitals of 26 and low hospital to Bed ratio of 0.0018%. This showcases the low standard of healthcare in Botswana which correlates to its high HIV prevalence caused by the lack of necessary facilities (worlddata, 2020). South Africa displays a lower standard of healthcare than Australia. Although, it has 26,900 more hospital beds than Australia, its ratio compared to the population is lower as can be seen in table 1 (ICI, 2020). This further reinforces the correlation between standard of healthcare and HIV prevalence. Also, South Africa has funded $17 Billion more to healthcare than Botswana, but Botswana has a higher healthcare government funding per capita than South Africa.

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