Further studies shows that more than 40 percent of the global poor live in economies affected by fragility, conflict and violence, and that number is expected to rise to 67 percent in the next decade. Those economies have just 10 percent of the world’s population and about 132 million of the global poor live in rural areas.
Many people who had barely escaped extreme poverty could be forced back into it by the convergence of COVID-19, conflict, and climate change. A “nowcast” (preliminary estimate) for 2020, incorporating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, projects that an additional 88 million to 115 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty, bringing the total to between 703 and 729 million.
“The new poor” probably will be more urban than the chronic poor, as middle-income countries such as India and Nigeria will be significantly affected; middle-income countries may be home to 82% of the new poor.(www.worldbank.org).
In view of the above, at least half of the world’s 7.3 billion people are not receiving the essential health services they need. As far back as 2010, almost 100 million people were pushed into extreme poverty because they had to pay for health services out of their own pockets. (www.who.int)