Tanner VanDrisse

Health Disparities

1. In the developing world, there are many unknowns in regard to health issues.
Many people are never educated on how the spread of disease occurs, therefore they do
not understand that by not washing their hands before preparing food, they can spread
disease. These are topics that are just beginning to be uncovered. In Ebola by David
Quanmmen, it is uncovered that people of the developing world are consuming meat
from dead apes, a very risky behavior that has been uncovered to cause the spread of
Ebola (Quammen, Chapter 3). It is through the dead animal’s carcass that the disease can
be transmitted through consumption to people. The problem in solving this issue is that
people of the developing world are many times beyond grateful to have food on their
table when it is available to them, therefore finding a dead ape creates only one idea in
their mind and that is to consume it. They need to be educated on the topic of apes in
general, but particularly already dead ones pose a serious risk of causing transmission of
disease and particularly Ebola. Had this outbreak occurred in the developed world, I
believe it would be stopped more quickly and obviously better prevented because of the
measures of local health departments and much larger organizations like the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. In Ebola by David Quammen we learn about how the
CDC in the USA studies Ebola closely to understand how it transmits from animals to
humans and what implications can be done to prevent this from occurring (Quammen,
Chapter 11). It is prevention measures such as this that need to be taken to prevent the
disease from reaching more populations and causing illness and death. In the Shadow of
Ebola by Gregg Mitman, there is great information gained on the perspective of those
who live in countries where Ebola is not such a risk in comparison to their home country
where loved ones are currently living. We see first hand throughout the film how
Emmanual Urey and his family cope with worrying about loved ones (his children) who
are living in Monrovia where Ebola is rampant. We quickly see how through his
perspective it can easily be understood that the disease is not being controlled but only
spread because of the lack of funding and knowledge regarding how to cope with the
disease.

Source
Quammen, David. 2014. Ebola. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

2. Because I want to be a behavior health promotion specialist, I will begin by taking

a behavioral intervention. Starting with money, I think it would be key to take
government funds are well as donations from organizations such as the CDC and WHO
and place them in behavioral studies to better understand who malaria continues to spread
 even through the education and vaccinations that are readily available for the disease. The
CDC even states on their website that prevention should always be the first means of
reacting to any health concern (CDC, About Us). I think it would also be important to
place many workers in the behavioral intervention area because it is here that they can
reach out to each unique group of people who are being infected by malaria and
understand what it is that they are doing to cause more to be infected. Through this
understanding and research, health professionals can then intervene and get the people to
understand their ways and see why they are false and eventually convert them into better
habits that will keep them safer and healthier. WHO states on their website that by using
behavioral health approaches, the overall population’s ways of functioning can be
uncovered to promote healthier functions of life (WHO, Staying Healthy).

The second chosen intervention, medical, is where much change and work are
needed. I would argue putting much more money needs to be placed because of the
simple fact that medical tools are not cheap but certainly required in finding ways to
prevent transmission of malaria. From cleaner water sources to safer ways of eating and
communicating with one another, medical measures are at every level but cannot be
reached if the funds are not available. Currently only 3% of some countries incomes are
spent on medical equipment in health loss prevention but could be increased to better
prevent health problems (WHO, Healthcare Costs for Prevention). Another resource to
increase and focus on would be research in the focus of what medical equipment is found
to be the most helpful in preventing and coping with malaria. In researching medical
ideas and ways of coping with malaria, it could be found how to better prevent malaria,
leading to less money spent on the tertiary stage of the illness.

Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2017. CDC mission.

https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/cio.htm (accessed December 12, 2017).

World Health Organization. 2017. WHO- The case for investing in public health.

http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/278073/Case-Investing-Public-

Health.pdf (accessed December 12, 2017).

3. Globalization effects health in both positive and negative ways. In lecture, we

understand that globalization has been on the rise recently which has caused both a
greater understanding of health topics around the globe but has also lead to a greater
 spread of disease because of globalizing (Kleinfeld, Class Lecture 11/14/17). It is here
that we learn about how globalization is making health concerns more prominent. Spatial
diffusion, which is the spreading of disease from one origin to many other points is one
of the greatest areas of concern because unlike in the past when travel wasn’t able to be
accomplished so far so quickly, diseases can now be spread from one country to another
in a matter of hours. This leaves much less time for health professionals to stop a disease
from spreading. I feel pessimistic about the future of our health with the current
globalization situation because even when it is known that diseases uncommon to the US
are occurring in Belize, Americans are still wishing to fly into these areas. I am all about
touring the world but when there is a rare flu blazing through a country, I don’t
particularly have a desire to be there. I do think that the travel bans our government put
on certain areas as well as the flagging areas created at airports to check people entering
countries after visiting these disease-stricken areas is a smart idea in preventing the
spread of disease but as studies show (particularly in the US where Ebola made it into the
land), infected persons can still make it past these checkpoints and cause further
contamination (CDC, Ebola in the United States). On the other hands there are certainly
many positive aspects to globalization. The WHO uncovers the fact that globalization has
lead to many increases in medical equipment usage worldwide because the tools and
knowledge are able to be spread further and faster to prevent years of life lost and fewer
people having to endure living life with different illnesses (WHO, Globalization and the
World).

Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2017. Cases of Ebola diagnosed in United States.

https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/united-states-imported-

case.html (accessed December 12, 2017).

Kleinfeld, Margo. 2017. Class lecture. (November 14, 2017).

4. Healthcare as a human right truly should not even be a discussion on the table but
unfortunately, it has already turned into the world’s largest money racketeering facet and
truly would be nearly impossible to reverse and so many for profit hospitals and the many
 insurance companies have such a tight grasp on its central identity. In looking at
tuberculosis, this is one illness that truly is not self-inflicted, this disease can occur to
anyone even if preventative measures are taken. Unlike HIV/AIDS and maternal health
which many times can be prevented with abstinence, tuberculosis is many times
transmitted just through day to day socialization amongst people. Another large problem
with this topic is health disparities. As covered in class, we learned that there are several
populations across the globe that simply are put in situations where they are more likely
to become ill or suffer disease (Kleinfeld, Class Lecture, 09/28/17). These are known as
health disparities and can lead to more illness and a greater need for health interventions.
Social determinants of health are also a large aspect of healthcare as a human right. As
covered in class, social determinants are the culture and health of a population. The ways
in which they are found in the social class can place them on the health scale of diseases
such as HIV/AIDS and so (Kleinfeld, Class Lecture, 09/28/17). People in areas where
they are low on the social scale are more likely to find themselves having poorer health
because they do not have access to healthcare or the health knowledge that people in
other locations do. Socioeconomic status is also a topic I studied closely in a sociology
course where I quickly understood that there are so many factors that play into one’s
health and how they will live their lives. Those lower on the socioeconomic status will
spend more days being ill and not being able to recover from some diseases that others
with higher statuses will be cured from after just a simple prescription of antibiotics or
other medication.

Sources

Kleinfeld, Margo. 2017. Class Lecture. (September 28, 2017).

5. From the list I would choose promoting good nutrition and combat tobacco use. I
believe promoting good nutrition is key because there are over 650 million people
worldwide are obese (WHO, 2017). This number is outrageous, and it is not hard to
understand that obesity can lead to so many other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease,
 and death. By starting at the source which is poor nutrition in diets, these diseases and
death can be prevented and promote more happy, functioning lives. I think that this is a
more primary approach to focuses on tackling global health priorities. This is a smarter
way of combatting so many issues. In looking at my second choice, I believe combatting
tobacco usage is also very important because this disease-causing activity can truly be
avoided and prevent all types of diseases such as cancer and COPD. By targeting tobacco
companies, we can together prevent these bad habits from ever occurring which will also
spare the health of so many and prevent the issue of global health issues from ever
occurring. We know that 7 million people die each year smoking worldwide (WHO,
2017), these are so many deaths that can be prevented by simply never starting a bad
habit. I didn’t choose to pick topics such as ensuring equal access to quality health care
because I know there are many people who even if they had access to healthcare would
not use it, and furthermore, if we start at the beginning of health (nutrition and good
habits), many can avoid going to a healthcare provider for a long time as we already see
in healthy populations. I also avoided topics such as forging strong, integrated, effective
health systems because I believe this is something that the healthcare systems should be
able to create on their own. For how much these large organizations are paid and funded
each year, I do not believe it should be on the shoulders of their government and private
sponsors to create these ideas. They too need to become self sufficient and learn how to
effectively function to better serve the people.

Sources

Jacobsen, Kathryn H. 2014 Global Health. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

World Health Organization. 2017. WHO nutrition. http://www.who.int/nutrition/en/ (accessed

December 12, 2017).

World Health Organization. 2017. WHO tobacco. http://www.who.int/topics/tobacco/en/

(accessed December 12, 2017).