Key Issues in Global Health Flashcards
What is the geographical reach for public health, international health and global health?
Public health:
- focuses on issues that affect the health of the population of a particular community or country
International health:
- focuses on health issues of countries other than one’s own, especially those of low-income and middle-income
Global health:
- focuses on issues that directly or indirectly affect health but that can transcend national boundaries
What is the level of cooperation implicated in public, internation and global health?
public health:
- development & implementation of solutions requires community-level or national cooperation
International health:
- development & implementation of solutions usually requires binational cooperation
Global health:
- development & implementaiton of solutions often requires global cooperation
Are public health, international health and global health focussed on individuals or populations?
public health:
- mainly focused on prevention programmes for populations
international health:
- embraces both prevention in populations and clinical care of individuals
global health:
- embraces both prevention in populations and clinical care of individuals
What is the access to health like in public, international and global health?
public health:
- health equity within a nation or community is a major objective
international health:
- seeks to help people of other nations
global health:
- health equity among nations and for all people is a major objective
What are the range of disciplines implicated in public, international and global health?
public health:
- encourages multidisciplinary approaches, particularly within health sciences and with social sciences
international health:
- embraces a few disciplines but has not emphasised multi-disciplinary
global health:
- highly interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary within and beyond health sciences
What does international health emphasize?
- specific diseases and conditions in particular countries
- often in “other” countries and not in one’s own
- more the differences between countries than their commonalities
- one-way flow of ideas for development initiatives
What is global health characterised by?
What does this recognise?
- characterised by health issues beyond the capacity of individual countries to address through domestic institutions
- recognises that health is determined by problems, issues and concerns that transcend national boundaries
Who does global health focus on?
What type of responses does it require?
- focused on people across the whole planet rather than concerns of particular nations
- requires multi-disciplinary responses from many countries
What is the overall aim of global health?
it places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide
What is emphasised in the definition of global health and how does it aim to be achieved?
global health emphasises transnational health issues, determinants and solutions
it involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration
it is a synthesis of population-based prevention with individual-level clinical care
What is meant by classifying a disease that is common across countries?
What is required in order to do this?
- suggesting a homogeneity of challenges across countries
- at all levels of socio-economic development
to do this requires
- accessing and using health information in global health context
What are the 3 main classifications of disease according to WHO?
group 1 - communicable disease:
- a category often grouped with maternal, perinatal and nutritional deficiencies
group 2 - non-communicable disease:
- this includes mental disorders
group 3 - injuries:
- this includes falls, RTAs, self-harm and interpersonal violence
What is meant by a communicable disease?
one that is spread from one person to another through a variety of ways that include:
- contact with blood and bodily fluids
- breathing in an airborne virus
- being bitten by an insect
What is meant by the burden of disease?
the impact of a health problem as measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity or other indicators
it is quantified in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
What factors influence the importance of communicable diseases?
- sheer burden
- economic impact
- rate of spread
- recurrence of diseases
- security and CDs
What is the global burden of disease study (GBD)?
the most comprehensive, global, observational epidemiological study to date
it describes mortality and morbidity from major diseases, injuries and risk factors to health at global, national and regional levels
What was the purpose of the GBD study?
it examines trends from 1990 to the present and makes comparisons across populations
this enables understanding of the changing health challenges facing people across the world in the 21st century
What were the top 10 global causes of death in 2016?
Why is this significant?
- ischaemic heart disease
- stroke
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- lower respiratory infections
- alzheimer disease & other dementias
- trachea, bronchus, lung cancers
- diabetes mellitus
- road injury
- diarrhoeal disease
- tuberculosis
>54% of global deaths were due to the top 10 causes
What is the pattern of death like for group I causes?
Group I is communicable, maternal and nutritional conditions
these conditions occur largely in poorer populations
they typically decline at a faster pace than all causes of mortality during the epidemiological transition
What are the 8 Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and their aim?
they are aimed at reducing health inequalities between rich and poor countries between 1990-2015
- eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- achieve universal primary education
- promote gender equality and empower women
- reduce child mortality
- improve maternal health
- combat HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- ensure environmental sustainability
- develop a global partnership for development