In times when natural disasters arise, the quality medical treatment can falter. Specific medical treatments may become unavailable when disaster strikes. The question posed is why does healthcare falter natural disasters and what are the consequences for different social groups? Countries examined are the Philippines, Bangladesh, England, Malaysia, Nepal, and the United States. There are many variables in what treatments are affected after a natural disaster, such as infant feedings, prenatal care, diabetes care, cancer care, and pain management. What is most important is what peoples are most affected by these limitations, some of the research proposed looks at demographic differences and how certain groups are more vulnerable, some groups examined are racial groups, older adults, and genders. This research is meant to explain from a sociological perspective on why there are differences in medical treatment after a natural disaster by country and social group.
The problem
Through research of this problem, it was discovered that medical treatment and records can become unavailable after a natural disaster. According to one journal, “hospitals and other health care infrastructures may be …show more content…
Already identified at risk populations are those socio-economically challenged. One journal also identified race as an at risk population explaining, “one possible explanation might be racial or ethnic minority populations could have been unable to get to the hospital if roads were closed or public transportation was not functioning or had limited function” (Velez-Valle et al., 2016). The implications of this quote are that people are unable to get to emergency care after a natural disaster because of damaged roads and lack of transportation. This puts people at a greater risk of mortality if their condition is serious and they go without medical