If you could only pick one indicator to describe the health status of a poor country, which indicator would you use and why?
If I could only pick one indicator to describe the health status of a poor country, I would pick education. Education measures the amount of information that one can access concerning their health. Being informed about the risks and benefits of dietary choice, management of one’s health, healthy physical habits and factors that predisposes one to diseases like smoking, helps one to make informed decision that prolong their lives. Similarly, accessing the levels of education of individuals provides information on their economic windows. Better educated individuals have a wider window to get better employment, raise their levels of income and make better decisions concerning the number of children they have and how to take care of them. In poor countries, the levels of education of individuals may be below the basic. As such, they may be unable to read or write well and thus, they may be less informed on making better health choices.
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As countries develop economically, what are the most important changes that occur in their burden of disease?
As countries develop economically, their burden of disease reduces and they have a longer life expectancy but they are still disposed to succumbing to non-communicable diseases. Countries with high income levels have better educated individuals who can manage their health better and extend their life expectancies. They are thus less predisposed to diseases which may reduce their health adjusted life expectancy (HALE) values. However, the Global Burden of Disease studies of 2010 showed that non-communicable diseases are now the greatest cause of deaths in high income countries. According to the study, the low and middle income countries had a 58% chance of dying from non-communicable diseases and 11% chance of dying from injuries. On the other hand, the high income countries had 87% chance of dying from the non-communicable diseases and only 7% of dying from injuries. These non-communicable diseases include stroke and ischemic heart diseases. The differences show that as economic developments occur, health gets sturdy and threats are posed by unpreventable and age-related non-communicable diseases.
When you, personally, hear the words "Global Health", what are your thoughts? How would YOU describe "Global Health"? Don't look this up. Just tell us your thoughts.
When I hear of the words “Global Health” my thoughts are about the general health of the people in the world. According to the information I have gathered through my exposure to health studies, I understand that the health of people vary around the world. Their health depends on factors like education and income. Poverty and lack of access to health facilities are a threat to health of people in countries with low income. Similarly, poor countries have lower health expectancies and they are more likely to die from preventable diseases like malaria. They are greatly hurt by diseases like HIV/Aids since they cannot manage to stay healthy due to the high exposure to secondary diseases that cause deaths to HIV patients. My thought about Global health are that, it focuses on creating a world where everyone has access to better health services and are less likely to die from preventable diseases.
Have you, personally, ever been out of the US (any country including Canada and Mexico)? If so, did you think about what you would do, where you would go, for health care if you became ill? If not, same question: how would you go about getting health care in another country?
I have not been outside of the United States and thus I have never had the challenge of determining where to get health care when outside the US. However, if I am to seek health when outside the US in countries like Canada or Mexico, I would seek health from private health facilities that are sponsored by religious organizations or academic institutions like the universities instead of government sponsored health facilities. I would choose these health facilities because private facilities sponsored by the government are in most instances poorly managed and poor staffed. Government facilities are also crowded since in most countries, the cost of health in government facilities are subsidized or fully sponsored by insurance companies. On the other hand, private companies are well equipped, frequently audited and they provide better services although they are expensive. I would not mind about the costs since my health is the first priority, and if I can afford the expense, I would not hesitate.
