Factors Militating Against Human Capital Formation in Developing Countries: Health Care Perspectives

Abstract

Health is a primary determinant of human capital formation. One of the reasons why developing economies have surplus labour but lack human capital lies in the poor health conditions of the people resulting from poverty, poor nutrition and high level of illiteracy. Combining the review of secondary materials with interviews with a few medical doctors, this sought to find how poverty affects health and what is on ground for reducing infant and maternal mortality in Nigeria. The study found that malnutrition has exposed a greater part of developing countries to hazards of low perception, weak analytical minds and poor intellectual capabilities, resulting from general impairments in cognitive, affective and sometimes psycho motive domains.