Global Health: Understanding Health Across Borders

Global Health Overview:

The perspective of global health particularly involves the population’s health, worth studying and acting across borders. It is concerned with health problems that span across geographies and seek to ensure equal distribution of health services. The following are examples of global health factors:

Economics Miranda.
Climate change Flores.
Political instability in Davos.
Cultural background Okada.

WHO, HIV/AIDS, and UNICEF are the key players in defining the global health landscape. Major interventions are emphasis on the prevention of:

Diseases of Poverty.
Non-Communicable Diseases.
Woman and Child health.
Health status and facilities.

As many diseases originate from the environment, focus upon a wider view will be more relevant in solving the problem of health as a whole.

Global Health: Past and Present

The global health history timeline has numerous milestones that gave rise to current practices.

History: Ancient societies made effort towards waste management and infectious diseases control.
19th: With the advent of the industrial revolution, people moved to cities thus the need for public health came about.
Early 20th: International approach to health, and League of Nations to particularly address the health needs of all the nations.
After World War two: World Health Organization’s Frances focal point of health organizers.
Late 20th: Concentrated on attention on the national health system and more on primary health-care and smallpox eradication.
Present age and beyond: Focus on the tools of combating noncommunicable diseases (NCD’s) and universal health coverage.

In this development they demonstrate clearly remarkable achievements as well as changing trends in global health.

Key Concepts in Global Health:

Social Determinants of Health:

Economic status.
Education levels.
Cultural conditions.
Environmental influences.

Epidemiology and Disease Burden:

Rate of incidence and prevalence.
Local case fatality rate.
Disability adjusted life years (DALYs).
Disease patterns.

Health System:

System of governance and policies.
Health resources.
Models of health service delivery.
Devices of health finances and insurance.

Global health politics:

Functions of world health organization.
Health policies.
International agencies.
Health-related civil society organization.

Health Equity:

Provision of healthy care services.
Imbalance among populations.
Interventions.
Moral issues.

Major Global Health Challenges:

Crises due to natural or synthetic disaster and the changing nature of disease are some of the great obstacles. Chronic disease ignore the health service and generate troubles among the rest of the world. More than 70% of deaths worldwide are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease and diabetes.

Infectious Diseases:

HIV/AIDS.
Tuberculosis.
Malaria.

Environmental Health Issues:

Climate change.
Pollution of air.
Water shortage.

Emerging Health Threats:

Resistance to antimicrobial agents.
Diseases transmitted from animals to humans.

Health Disparities:

Failure of people to obtain health services.
Malnutrition due to poverty.

Mental Health:

Rise in cases and percentage of treated depression and anxiety.
People are ashamed to seek proper treatment.

Recommendations:

There will be an increase in healthy cooperation between nations and more sustainable mechanisms will have to be employed.

Socio-Economic Determinants of Health:

Socio economic determinants play a vital role in the health status of the individuals Those with high level of income generally, enjoy, for a good health nutritious diet, healthcare services and living conditions.

Education: Structures of education shape health literacy and health promoting activities.
Employment: Security in jobs and health conditions impact both psychological and physical health.
Social Support Networks: Having a well developed social network results in better health and well being.
Physical Environment: Secure housing and cleaner surroundings are health promoting factors.
Access to Healthcare Services: Health outcome highly depends on the provision of health care services.

All these causes impact together concerning the health of the individual and the health of populations.

Global Health Governance and Organizations:

Involves a number of organizations that takes initiative in coming up with policies and strategies which are oriented towards the improvement of health at national or global level. Important among these organizations are:

World Health Organization: International health regulations are developed by this organization.
United Nations: Promotes health related issues on an international level through its subsidiary agencies.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Observes international health threats and seeks to eliminate them.
Non-Governmental Organizations: Render healthcare and advocacy services at the community level.
Global Fund: Supports anti-aids programs in countries.
World Bank: Advises developing countries and gives cash to health projects.
Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance: International vaccination assistance.

Such kinds of institutions work in order to address health issues related ilnesses as, entre laematicus, maternal and child health or other non communicable diseases.

The importance of Technology in Global Health Care:

There is an emphasis to how technology has been a catalyst in the improvement of global health services. For instance, it provides remote diagnosis, improves the quality of care, and broadens the reach by promoting healthy practices. Some of the trending prospects include:

Telemedicine: Forms of technology which makes lonely patients talk to the physician through the phone.
Mobile Health (mHealth): Use mobile telephone in health monitoring as well as in providing health information.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs): Help to gather visceral treatment information with technology.
Wearable Devices: Offer patients electronic wrist bands that record certain activities during the day and continuously monitor health improvements.

With those technologies being exploited to the fullest, health practitioners are capable of administering high quality and more equitable care around the world, thus promoting better health.

Case Studies of Successful Global Health Initiatives:

Rotary International’s PolioPlus Program:

Objective: Eliminate Polaris virus at all costs.
Achievements: It aided in reducing global cases of polio by 99.9 percent since the year 1988.
Collaborators: WHO, UNICEF, CDC.

PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief):

Objective: Fight HIV/AIDS in the world.
Achievements: He also antiretroviral treatment to over eighteen million people who had them.
Collaborators: Partners all over the world and locally.

Global Fund to fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria:

Objective: End AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Achievements: 44 Million lives had been saved up to date targeting since its inception in 2002.
Collaborators: Governments, NGOs, Private sector.

GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance:

Objective: Improve immunisation coverage to the poorer nations.
Achievements: Over 822 million children were immunized.
Collaborators: WHO, UNICEF, World Bank.

Ethical issues in Global health A case study:

The ethical issue in global health arises from a broad spectrum of issues and concerns:

Equitable Access:

Disparities in health care needs and resources.
The unjust distribution of vaccines and other therapies.

Cultural Sensitivity:

Medial ethics and traditions of the community where patients come within.
Recognition of other people’s views.

Informed Consent:

Language barriers and comprehension issues.
Willingness to participate in Clinical trials.

Resource Allocation:

Setting priorities on the target population.
Resolving the problem due to poverty in countries.

Confidentiality:

Cross borders management of patient information.
Ethical issues and data management.

Research Ethics:

What is right and wrong with respect to the use of sentient beings within an experiment.
Social justice with respect to how the communities are treated.

Searching for eminence in global health seeks to harmonize values of fairness, respect and justice.

Future Trends in Global Health:

New emerging trends enable the growth in markets of global health. Basic developments are the following ones:

Digital Health: Telehealth and mobile health applications are breaking the geographic barriers.
Personalized Medicine: There is more attention towards pressing the ‘target’ with respect to one’s genetics bespoke remedies for different profiles.
Artificial Intelligence: AI is making better diagnosis and borderline anthropology of predictive technologies.
Genomics: The genetic manipulation, as well as other advances within genomics, are opening new doors for treatment.
Climate Change Impact: Growing influence of narrow and wide climate on diseases and health statistics.
Universal Health Coverage: More and more political will and activities are directed to achieving universal health coverage on the world scale.
Mental Health: Ever growing understanding of the significance of mental health for more infrastructure and research.

These trends are critical in enhancing the global health.

Conclusion: The path to the undeterred advancement in global health

Emphasis on improvement in health conditions and health of world’s population should be done in the following areas.

Strengthening Health Systems: Providing and maintaining sound systems and providing and making sure that the population can access health facilities and services.
Addressing Inequities: Eliminating inequities in terms of health exposures and outcomes among different populations.
Promoting International Cooperation: Promoting cooperation among countries and territories and other organizations.
Investing in Research and Innovation: Improving the level of technology and level of treatment.
Enhancing Education and Workforce Training: Developing adequate and appropriate health workforce.
Enhancing Disease Surveillance and Response: Building strong monitoring and action systems for early identification and response.