LONDON, England (CNN) -- In 1981, Dr Mohga Kamal-Yanni was preparing to leave Egypt for a clinical attachment in England when her father had a heart attack. He fell in the street, and was taken to a public hospital, where Dr Kamal-Yanni kept vigil at his bedside until he regained his strength.



A doctor at a hospital in India where health indicators have showed no significant improvement  in seven years.



During his stay in the hospital, she was appalled at the low level of healthcare available to him. "It was awful. There was no medicine," she told CNN.



As a doctor, Kamal-Yanni was able to watch over her father's progress. Her professional opinion on his recovery was striking. "My father survived that heart attack for two reasons," she said. "One, because of God's will, and two, because he had a strong will. It was nothing to do with the health service."



The following year, Kamal-Yanni came to England to do a clinical attachment. She found herself deeply affected by the stark contrast between the healthcare available in Britain, on the publicly funded National Health Service, and the healthcare available at home in Egypt. She found herself slipping into depression.



"I couldn't talk to the patients; I couldn't talk to the doctors. I just couldn't cope with it," she revealed to CNN. "I couldn't understand why every time I saw a monitor next to a patient I was so upset."



It dawned on her that the gulf in care was troubling her. "I kept thinking why on earth my dad didn't have that. The only reason was that he happened to be born in Egypt and these people had the luck to be born [in England]."



Kamal-Yanni is now a senior health & HIV policy advisor at third-world charity Oxfam. Her first-hand experience of the divide between the healthcare available in richer countries, and that on offer in poorer ones, has given her the impetus to try and narrow the gap.



While Western countries are pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge, discovering the potential of nanotechnology and other high-tech solutions to the developed world's diseases, like diabetes, cancer and obesity, poor countries are struggling to combat health problems such as HIV, malaria and TB.



Lack of infrastructure



And it's not as simple as shipping medicines and supplies in bulk quantities. Oxfam's "Paying for People" report, published in February this year, said that poor countries are suffering because they lack the infrastructure of a health service. The WHO's 2006 "World Health Report" also indicates that 4.25 million doctors, nurses and health workers are needed across 57 countries. Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, has 600,000 health workers: one million more are required.



Without these key workers, it is questionable whether healthcare in poor countries can be improved. Nicky Wimble, a spokesperson for Oxfam, told CNN, "There is money coming in for drugs now, but there's no commitment to long-term aid."



Governments are unable to give healthcare workers with job security and doctors and nurses, where they do exist, are largely poorly paid: so people choose other careers. "They're either becoming taxi drivers, or working for private businesses," Wimble says. This double brain-drain (one internal, one external as those who do train are tempted away by higher salaries and brighter futures in developed countries) means that even if drugs make it to poorer areas, there can be no one to administer them. "Drugs are sitting in cupboards," Wimble told CNN. "Or they're available in cities but people in rural areas don't have the bus fares to get to them."



Vulnerable to disease



Dr Kamal-Yanni backs this up. She told CNN, "There is no public investment in health systems so people have to pay for it. If you're poor you can't buy your healthcare and if you're a woman who happens
Who won't be able to cope with SARS and avian flu? What did Oxfam say of lack of infrastructure? What is the greatest danger to health? What did WHO say is needed worldwide? What is needed worldwide?
Kamal-Yanni "Paying for People" report, published in February this year, said that poor countries are suffering because they low level of healthcare 4.25 million doctors, nurses and health workers 4.25 million doctors, nurses and health workers
question: Who won't be able to cope with SARS and avian flu?, answer: Kamal-Yanni | question: What did Oxfam say of lack of infrastructure?, answer: "Paying for People" report, published in February this year, said that poor countries are suffering because they | question: What is the greatest danger to health?, answer: low level of healthcare | question: What did WHO say is needed worldwide?, answer: 4.25 million doctors, nurses and health workers | question: What is needed worldwide?, answer: 4.25 million doctors, nurses and health workers