3rd Quarter HEALTH

Global Health and the Millennium Development Goals

Ilona Kickbush (2006), director of the Global Health Program at the Graduate Institute of
International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland states that global health pertains
to various health issues, concerns, and trends which go beyond national boundaries and call for
global initiatives for the protection and promotion of peoples’ health across the world.
Koplan and Associates (2009) states that global health is an area for study, research and practice
that prioritizes health improvement and achieving impartiality in healthcare and wellness
worldwide. Beaglehole and Bonita (2010) gave a short but meaningful definition of global health:
cooperative research and action of international communities to promote health for all.
8 Millennium Development Goals
1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
Developing countries particularly in Africa and Asia suffer from extreme poverty and
hunger. Poverty and hunger leads to severe malnutrition which leads to lifelong physical
and cognitive (learning and reasoning) damage and affects health, well-being and the
economy. Some key suggestions to eradicate poverty and hunger are:
 Education
 Promoting gender equality
 Producing more jobs
 Investing more in agriculture
 Strengthened nutrition programs for children and infants
 Support and protection of developing and vulnerable countries during crises
2. Achieve universal primary education
Persons, particularly women who are educated, are more likely to seek medical care
especially during pregnancy, ensuring proper nutrition for their family, adopting healthy
sanitary practices and ensuring immunization of children. As an effect, infants and
children have better survival rates, are healthier and better nourished. If these are
attained, children who receive primary education are more likely to:
 Marry and have their own families at a later stage in life
 Practice family planning and have fewer children
 Know rights, responsibilities and civic obligations
 Seek employment and sustain personal and family needs
 Have decreased risk of getting sexually transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS
 Support and protection of developing and vulnerable countries during crises
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
Gender equality means equal representation of men and women. It implies that all gender
should have equal value and treatment. Equal gender treatment empowers women and
 other groups creating opportunities in education, work, finances, and other aspects which
improves the economy and lessen effects of financial crises. Gender equality can be
achieved through:
 Early childhood development intervention
 Promotion of women’s political rights and involvement
 Improved reproductive health programs and policies
 Education and integrating gender equality in school curriculum
 Improved women’s access to work and strengthened labor policies for women
 Support and protection of developing and vulnerable countries during crises
4. Reduce child mortality
Programs and policies which help reduce child mortality like improving nutritional intake,
healthcare facilities and infrastructure, and other fields which improve children’s lives.
Strengthening local and national health programs and policies is one way to reduce child
mortality. This includes:
 Immunization programs
 Assuring the survival and better health of mothers
 Improving reproductive health programs and policies
 Better nutrition program for infants, children and mothers
5. Improved maternal health
Improved maternal health is not only about mother’s health but also involves the health
and wellness of the family. Maternal health also helps eradicate other problems like
poverty, gender inequality, decreased workforce, lower birth deaths, and disability of
women. Some ways to improve maternal health include:
 Improved and proper nutrition of mothers
 Teaching the benefits of birth spacing and small family size
 Educating young boys and girls about the importance of maternal health
 Better and improved access to hospital care especially obstetric-gynecology,
prenatal and postnatal car
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases
Emerging and re-emerging diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, influenza and other diseases
affect productivity and growth of nations. Some of the effects of disease outbreak are loss
of jobs, shortage in professional workers, and creating social crises. Children are the most
vulnerable and are exposed to exploitation and abuse undermining their normal growth
and development. Some ways to combat diseases include effective prevention, treatment
and care like:
 Improved housing conditions
 Increased access to anti-malarial medicines
 Promoting safer sex behavior and preventive education for all
 Promoting Tuberculosis (TB) screening of HIV/AIDS persons and
 TB - Directly Observed Treatment Short (TB-DOTS) Course therapy
  Promoting the use of insecticide-treated nets to fight mosquito-borne diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
Investing and supporting sustainable energy like solar, wind and water energy help
support jobs, create business opportunities, and save remaining non-renewable energy
sources. Environmental sustainability assures peoples to live healthier and enjoy a clean
and green environment. Some of the benefits of a sustainable environment are:
 Cleaner air and environment
 Clean, environment-friendly, and renewable energy
 New and aspiring jobs and business in energy
 Increased access to sanitation
8. Global partnership for development
The United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank and governments work
together to make sure there is fair trade and that heavily indebted countries obtain relief
and funds to combat poverty, malnutrition and funds for education and social projects.
Some benefits of global partnership are:
 Expanded international trade agreements
 Improved access to affordable medicine
 Reduced poverty through government debt relief grant
 Developed information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure
The Global Fight against Communicable Diseases
C. Roll Back Malaria.
Roll Back Malaria is a global effort to reduce the number of deaths from malaria
infection through heightened prevention tools, rapid response to outbreaks,
development of new anti-malarial products, and effective treatment of the infection.
Specific objective:
1. To enable and to increase the capacity of caregivers to recognize malaria promptly
and take early appropriate action;
2. To empower service providers by imparting adequate knowledge, skill and capacity
which enable them to respond to malaria illness appropriately;
3. To create an enabling environment for implementation.
D. Stop TB.
Stop TB is a global effort to prevent further transmission of tuberculosis or TB around
the world. One of the programs for Stop TB is the implementation of the TB-DOTS short-
course strategy.
Objectives:
1. To achieve universal access to high-quality diagnosis and patient-centered treatment
2. To reduce the suffering and socio-economic burden associated with TB
3. To protect poor and vulnerable populations from TB, TB/HIV and multi drug-resistant
 – TB (MDR-TB)
4. To support development of new tools and enable their timely and effective use.
E. Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization is a global strategy which aims to
strengthen children’s immunization programs and introduce new generation of licensed vaccines
into use in developing countries across the globe. These new vaccines which could help reduce
the number of deaths in children aged 5 years old and below includes:
• Hepatitis B vaccine
• Childhood meningitis vaccine
• Yellow fever vaccine
• Influenza vaccine
• Vaccine for pneumonia
F. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria is a funding project rather than an
initiative. Nevertheless, it helps in the prevention, reduction, and mitigation of the negative
impacts of the three diseases to humanity which contributes to the fulfillment of the Millennium
Development Goals.
Global Prevention and Control of Tobacco and Alcohol Use
• WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the prime
international treaty negotiated under WHO. The WHO FCTC came into existence in reaction to
the global epidemic of tobacco use and abuse. It reaffirms the right of every individual across the
world to the highest standard of health promoting public health and providing new legal means
for global health cooperation. The following summarizes the WHO FCTC provisions:
1. Price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco, and 2. Non-price measures to
reduce the demand for tobacco, namely:
• Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke; • Regulation of the contents of tobacco
products; • Regulation of tobacco product disclosures; • New packaging and labeling of
tobacco products; • Education, communication, training and public awareness; • Demand
reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation; and • Tobacco
advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
Global Initiative for Mental Health
• Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020
The “Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020” is the result of extensive
research and consultations by stakeholders, member-nations, academic and non-government
centers across the globe. The mental health action plan should be impartial, life-based, and
preventive in nature. It basically addresses the following:
• To fight and alleviate negative trends in mental health,
• To improve and make mental health services and care accessible, and
• To prevent abuse of rights and unjust treatment against people with mental problems,
disorders, and disabilities which are still prevalent around the world
Acronyms
DOH – Department of Health
FCTC – Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross
TB-DOTS – Tuberculosis – Directly Observed Treatment Short Course
UN – United Nations
UNDP – United Nations Development Plan
WB – World Bank
WHO – World Health Organization
SUMMARY
Global health initiatives are programs and projects which help address global health issues,
concerns, and trends. Global health is a new trend in which the World Health Organization
addresses health concerns in cooperation with member-nations and private international
organizations as partners. Some of these health issues, concerns, and trends are about mental
health, pollution, climate change, environmental sanitation, tobacco control, harmful use of
alcohol, and prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Along with the health initiatives to prevent if not reduce the prevalence of health problems, the
United Nations formulated the eight millennium developmental goals in the year 2000 so that
nations across the world can reduce poverty and hunger, promote universal education for all and
gender equity, reduce mortality among children, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDs,
malaria, and other communicable diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop
global partnership in addressing global problems.
Among the global health initiatives led by the World Health Organization are: Stop TB, Roll Back
Malaria, Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control, Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan, Global Strategy to Reduce the
Harmful Use of Alcohol and Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable
Diseases.