Prince Osei-Wusu Adjei, Peter Ohene Kyei and Daniel Buor
Many rural communities are saddled with major socio-economic developmental challenges which undermine efforts to accelerate rural development and poverty reduction processes. In rural Ghana, poverty emerges as a visible condition with manifold manifestations confronting opportunities to actualize the health related goals to be achieved by 2015. However, very little effort has been made to examine the impact of socio-economic indicators on the health situation of rural inhabitants relevant to inform policy making for appropriate poverty reduction strategies which can ultimately address the health needs of the rural communities. The paper was prepared from a study on the impact of poverty on the health of rural communities of Ghana, situational analysis of the Amansie West District of Ghana. It identifies inadequate household income and very low level of education of heads of rural household as the basic dimensions of poverty underpinning the multiple manifestations of deprivation in rural communities. The paper further examines how income and education inequalities account for the susceptibility of rural inhabitants in the study villages to highly prevalent diseases in rural Ghana. Thus, through qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the paper reveals why the poor rural inhabitants of Ghana are poorer in health
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