India contains some of the world’s most densely populated areas and is home to some of the world’s poorest populations as well. Underdeveloped nations such as India are in need of economic assistance from developed nations in order to help them to improve the living conditions and situations of the most poor and vulnerable of their population. In India, there are many who live in isolated and rural areas where they do not have access to information related to medical services or sanitation. There is an epidemic of preventable and curable diseases that many children and adults die from every day. These diseases are caused by a mixture of malnutrition and poor sanitation. Programs funded by developed nations could help India’s poor to live happier and healthier lives by giving them access to better nutrition, proper medical care, and a better system of sewage treatment. Action must be taken quickly, however. The longer that people live in conditions where sanitation and disease is a problem, the more likely they are to get sick, dejected and depressed. When the society becomes too ill and dejected, it is difficult for relief workers to improve the status of the health of the community. The vast difference in economics between India and the western world has led to a situation in India where malnutrition from abject poverty has led to a high disease rate amongst its poorer population and where many infant deaths are caused by a lack of childhood vaccinations and inadequate sewage disposal.

There is a vast difference in economics between developed and underdeveloped countries. India is a third world country with a very large population where there is a great inequality between the rich and the poor that is growing faster than ever. In developed nations, there is a middle class and most of the population enjoys a life of relative comfort. (Klass 2005). The economic inequalities include access to healthcare and sanitation services like sewage treatment and disposal. Western countries have centralized governmental bodies that have set up sanitation services that help to eliminate disease caused by germs from sewage and trash. India, however, does not have the infrastructure in place to properly treat sewage and trash throughout the country. (Klass 2005) Western countries have had the economic advantage to implement a health care system for their populations. In India, many are without adequate health care and lack even the basic information regarding sanitation and vaccinations. This is due to a lack of funds that could be supplemented by developed nations. In the article, “Building local research – development capacity for the prevention and cure of neglected diseases: the case of India”, analyses how health, economic development and external investments are needed to change the poverty that afflicts less developed countries such as India. (Kettler 2001) There are many adults and children who die in India every day from diseases that are treatable and curable. If proper funding was given to India to create a healthcare system, many deaths would be prevented by proper medication. Funding could also help to implement sewage treatment facilities and create better public sanitation, which would help to prevent many of the diseases from occurring in the first place.
One of the biggest problems facing India is the problem of malnutrition. Most people simply do not have enough to eat, and what they do have to eat, is of poor quality. This leads to malnutrition, which makes the body more vulnerable to disease. India’s poor suffer from malnutrition due to abject poverty. With external funding, India’s poor could be given the food they need to live a happy and healthy life. Free from malnutrition, they would be less vulnerable to disease and death. Malnutrition is a major risk factor that increases the person’s chance of acquiring infection diseases such as tuberculosis. (Klass 2005). In addition, malnutrition in children will increase their chance of dying form curable diseases such as measles, pneumonia, and diarrhea. (Klass 2005). Children in developed nations are not at as high of a risk to contract these diseases because they have been greatly reduced from the environment due to proper healthcare and sanitation. There is no need for children in India to be dying form diseases that are curable. The technology is available in developed nations to eliminate diseases due to malnutrition and should be made available to underdeveloped nations. In order to prevent the needless deaths of India’s children, external funding could be used to reduce the rate of malnutrition by feeding India’s hungry.