Traditionally, governments all over the world have emphasized on the sector of public health, thus recognizing the value it has to an individual and the communities as well. A strong program for the public does not just improve the health of the population but also a country's treatment foundation. Public health simply means understanding the health needs thus intervening so as to improve the health of a population. If a country has a healthy population, then, the need for treatment every time will go down and thus respond faster and more effectively in case there is a need for treatment; such can only be achieved if there is enough funding for the public health. More so, technology is evolving, and with it public health is also evolving, thereby improving the future of public health itself. The future of public health may come with both good and bad news.
The good news is that, since the year 1950, the life span among the U.S population has increased on average. According to the health affairs blog, America’s lifespan has extended on average by at least 10 years from the1950s (Benjamin & DeSalvo, 2016). This is a clear indication of great achievement that has been made in the progression of the health behaviors, water, food, disease breakthroughs, cleaner air and treatment, and diagnosis.
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Over the past years, there have been great improvements in accessing health services including digitizing care, and health insurance coverage among other things. Both private and public health sectors have joined forces thus improving the quality of health care significantly, patient safety, experience and innovating payment systems. Also, life expectancy has improved in some parts of the U.S where it had dropped and remained stagnant.
Public health is growing stronger every day thanks to technological advancements. Among the technologies that are emerging, health dominates at least the best 10 at the top. This is evident in the World Economic Forum which highlighted that almost “half of the top 10 emerging technologies” will have an impact or are related to the health sector in a very significant manner (Bernaert, 2015). These technologies include precise techniques in genetic-engineering, digital genome, robotics of the next-generation, therapeutics of the human microbiome, wearable electronics that are body adapted, therapeutics which are RNA-based, brain-computer interfaces, and the predictive analytics (quantified self) (Bernaert, 2015). All these show a greater future of the public health.
The bad news is that, as the public health improves, medical services may become expensive thus unaffordable to the lower class families. In the past 50 years, healthcare costs have managed to outpace the economic growth by 2% on average especially in OECD nations (Bernaert, 2015). What is worse is that economies that are still emerging have started facing similar challenges. It is estimated that by the year 2022, about one-third of the global expenditure on health will be experienced by the emerging economies (Bernaert, 2015). Furthermore, the additional $100 that is spent on matters of health in the year 2022 (as compared to 2012) $50 will be from the emerging economies.
The future of public health may come with both good and bad news, but it does not mean that the public health sector will be functionless. As more advancement are being embraced in the area of public health the more health sector is being improved and thus taming health complications and having a healthy population. Through its (public health) programs, prevention and control of diseases as the main aim, it ensures that not only will there be a health population but also a great deal in promoting health.
References
Bernaert, A. (2015, April 10). Five global health trends you just can’t ignore . World Economic forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/04/five-global-health-trends-you-just-cant-ignore/
Benjamin, G. & DeSalvo, K. (2016, November 21). Public Health 3.0: A Blueprint for the Future of Public Health . Health Affairs Blog . Retrieved from http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2016/11/21/public-health-3-0-a-blueprint-for-the-future-of-public-health/
