 Dear students, in this module we are going to discuss the effects of global stratification on healthcare system from conflict point of view. The conflict perspective is a sociological perspective that views society as a system of competing interests and power struggles. In the context of health and medicine the conflict perspective looks at how power and inequality shape the healthcare system and different practices. So global stratification refers to the unequal distribution of resources and power among different countries and region. So when we talk about the healthcare system and potential inequalities within the healthcare system we can also understand this within the global point of view or looking at it through a word system perspective. So critically speaking this system this whole healthcare system is based on potential inequalities. For example when we see that low-income countries are having poor health conditions and poor health opportunities and access to poor health facilities as compared to the developed countries in order to understand the reasons behind this huge gap of quality between the high income countries versus low-income countries conflict perspective says that it is only because of the fact that high-income countries are at the advantageous position they can suck the resources from the low-income countries and thereby they can improve their own health system their own health conditions at the expense of low-income countries. So overall if we look at this system then all the low-income countries like Pakistan have potentially sucked all the resources from the low-income countries and in this way their already deplorable conditions further reduce the poor health conditions. For example we see that the professional doctors trained in Pakistan are expatriated because of the brain drain and in European countries, Western countries for lucrative opportunities and for a good future career they give Pakistan good news and in this way the resources Pakistan spends on training are all wasted. So this global system of inequality is actually producing an environment which is not favorable for countries like Pakistan. Along with this we see that conflict perspective can also help us understand that how economic and political interests can shape the health care policies and practices. The global economic health care system, we see that pharmaceutical industries particularly their interests are not related to health but rather related to business and then because their potential investment focus is to earn money and to generate more revenue so for this reason the health care system is not a priority for them and low-income countries like Pakistan, for such countries their preference is the rich class or elite class which can afford it and not the poor class for which mass level of life-saving drugs are produced. The biggest factor that we see is that because of pharmaceutical companies or industries, the major investment focus is on health aspects which society does not prioritize. For example, life-saving aspects are not important for pharmaceutical companies but they are important for which they can earn more money. For example, we see that most of the investment is in the beauty industry and the beauty products are more towards earning more money through investment. Mostly they produce drugs which are called life-saving drugs. Then the conflict perspective can also help us understand that how these social inequalities such as gender and income can impact the health care outcomes and can access to these resources can also be reflected as a consequence of these health care outcomes. And conflict perspective can also help us understand that how health care systems and institutions reinforce these social inequalities. If we talk about the global stratification it can also impact the distribution of health care professionals and resources within a country leading to regional disparities in the health care access. Even in Pakistan today, we see a lot of regional disparities because of which we see potential inequalities in the health care system. For example, there are many doctors who do not like to practice in rural areas because living conditions are not sufficient for them. Their preference is that the working environment for them is compatible to modern infrastructure where life amenities are accessible to them. This is a major problem because rural areas have poor health conditions and poor infrastructure. Along with this, we see that other areas such as remote areas or districts where your living standards are not so good medical professionals are not able to access those areas and the people from those areas are deprived of such services and they have to travel a lot so that they can access adequate health services. So the conflict perspective can also help us understand the role of social movements and advocacy in challenging these power imbalances in the health care system. Along with this, when we look at all these issues, when we analyze them from a critical point of view, the conflict perspective shows that your major role should be in policy reformation, through policy intervention, we can bring positive changes to society. The major focus should be on how we can focus on inequality and create equitable resources and equitable opportunities in the society. For you, the food for thought is that you should look at the existing health care system in Pakistan and compare it with any developed country's health care system but look at the health care system in Pakistan where improvement is needed.