The MICs are being perceived as “not poor,” but in reality 75% of the world’s poor now reside in these countries.
The majority of people living with HIV/AIDS now reside in the MICs.
The designations for Low, Middle, and High-Income countries are arbitrarily set by the World Bank based on the countries’ Gross National Income. This approach understates the true extent of poverty in the MICs.
The International Poverty Line is $1.90 per day, while the lower limit of the MIC bracket is only $2.73 per day. It’s unconscionable to say that a person making $0.83 per day more than the Int’l Poverty Line lives in a Middle Income Country.
In Swaziland, nearly 1 in 3 adults is HIV-positive and the average income per capita is $8.10 per day. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said it will no longer provide free condoms to Swaziland because it is an MIC, and is thus not a poor country.
MICs receive less foreign aid and pay higher prices for essential medicines and medical commodities.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria makes a smaller amount of grant money available to MICs, even though they have a high burden of the three diseases.
MICs such as Mexico, Vietnam, and Ukraine have to pay as much as 10 times more for commonly prescribed HIV drugs, compared to the Low-Income Countries.
The World Bank needs to change how it groups countries by income level.
Country designations need to account for on-the-ground realties, such as disease burden, unequal pay, and the quality of life.
The lower limit of the MIC bracket should be raised to between $10-$15 per day.