Voluntarism: A Way Forward for Health Care Delivery In Developing World

Abstract

Volunteer is a term which refers to the provision of services by choice or free will of a person, organization or group of individuals with no financial gain in full awareness and appreciation (1). It is an international phenomenon in which the individuals provide their time and services free of cost to an organization for the benefit of others (2). It is vital for the sustainability and smooth functioning of the nonprofit and community organizations that the participation on volunteer basis should be regular and ongoing (3). This is worth mentioning that in United States during the  year of 2000, 15.5 billion hours were contributed by 83.9 million volunteers which is equal to an amount of USD 39.2 billion wages for the employees (4). During the year of 2006, there were 5.2 million volunteers in Australia contributing around 623 million hours to the non-profit segment. This contribution value is equal to a wage of 15 billion AUD$ (5).