We were given an article to read, “The Challenge of Global Health,” written by Laurie Garret of Foreign Affairs. The article discusses the hardships generating and maintaining legitimate money sources to help with diseases and other areas of public health in developing countries.
The author suggests several reasons why global public health is worsening despite the constant increase in monetary resources. I found three that seemed to be extremely pertinent. One is that the “efforts this money is paying for are largely uncoordinated and directed mostly at specific high-profile diseases--rather than at public health in general....” With a lack of coordination and proper direction, one cannot expect positive results and improvements. Given the advanced nature of the developed nations in today's world, this is absolutely unacceptable. With all the work that public health administration does in an effort to keep our world safe and healthy, whichever branch that is authorized to collect allocate this money should realize that a majority should be spent on bettering the general public health of struggling populations. It is always beneficial to improve the situation of the whole.
Another reason the author suggested is that “According to the bank, money leaks out in the form of payments to ghost employees, padded prices for transport and warehousing, the siphoning off of drugs to the black market, and the sale of counterfeit--often dangerous--medications. In Ghana, for example, where such corruption is particularly rampant, an amazing 80 percent of donor funds get diverted from their intended purposes.” This is information that I was personally a slightly shocked to read. There needs to be a firmer system of regulation implemented when dealing with money for such a serious cause. Clearly this money needs to be watched by a trusted authority until it reaches its true and final destination, and until that happens, there can be no real hope for assisting developing countries, because all efforts will be squandered.
The two markers that are considered the most important indicators of the status of health care systems in developing countries are maternal mortality rate and life expectancy. Maternal mortality rate is large and important indicator because “pregnant women survive where safe, clean, round-the-clock surgical facilities are staffed with well-trained personnel and supplied with ample sterile equipment and antibiotics. If new mothers thrive, it means that the health-care system is working, and the opposite is also true.” Plainly stated, pregnant women can only survive in optimal conditions, so if there are fewer deaths among this specific population than it must mean that there are healthy and safe living conditions and vise versa. Life expectancy is an good indicator because it demonstrates “child survival and essential public health services.” If living conditions are healthy and safe, for example, ample and clean drinking water and access to medical care, than people will live for longer periods of time. And those who are susceptible to more diseases, like children, will be less likely to die at young ages.
"The Challenge of Global Health" is a landmark article which articulates the increasing burden of disease as the human population increases, and the gulf which is widening between rich and poor, healthy and unwell. It epitomizes a core concept of Public Health that there are many other factors beyond disease and cure which affect the health of populations.
ReplyDeleteNice summary and good integration of your own thoughts. The concept of money going astray is a difficult one to deal with - some of it is corruption, some is the difference between the haves and the have-nots. There are no easy answers!