Health
Health
Fair Observer's analysis of issues in medicine, public health, disease prevention and disease control, drugs, nutrition, and fitness.
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By Amy HenslinBackground Ever since the Industrial Revolution, steady advances in medical technology, changing patterns in education and gender roles, and a wide range of other factors have caused populations around the world to reach old-age in growing numbers. For some time the problem of ageing populations seemed to be an affliction particular to developed nations, but United Nations (UN) data suggest that it is now a “global phenomena”, affecting developed and developing countries alike. Although in terms of technology and infrastructure, developing nations may be several decades behind developed nations, the problem still remains; populations are changing, causing nations with well...
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By Martina BockA trauma therapist describes the necessity of healing the war-affected youth of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This year is the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Bosnia-Herzegovina War (1992-1995). Although this seems to have been a long time ago and though most of the visible traces of the war have now been removed, the land and its people are still very shaped by the war. The country’s two main political entities: the Federation and the Republika Srpska often block each other in political decisions. The provisions of the Dayton Agreement, which in 1995 were useful to end the bloody war, now emerge as hindrances. A system of uncountable administrative units costs a lot of money, and...
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United States / Focus Article / BRIC / HealthHealthcare is specific to each country and is shaped by the political, social and economic conditions of the moment. China and the United States are both in the process of undergoing healthcare reform. In 2009, China announced its healthcare reform, which it elaborated upon through the 12th Five-Year Plan released by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 2011. After considerable debate, the US launched its own series of reforms, with the HITECH Act, which was a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was a standalone entity that was enacted in 2010. While both reforms were created in part to...
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By Ulrich HemelFive crucial Issues from the standpoint of global civil society. Everybody agrees on the need for health education but there is not yet a common understanding of what that means and how far reaching health education should be. From the standpoint of civil society in a global perspective, the first agent of health is every person in his or her first person, independent of State control. This is less obvious than it seems, and the reason is simple: Health damaging activities have a high probability of creating costs for a somewhat generalised health system. As a consequence, legislation tries to gain control over such forms of behaviour. Look at the ban on smoking in public buildings not only...
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Commentary on the supply and demand of medicine, its overuse, and the need to regulate and optimize the accessibility of medicinal drugs in the US and beyond. This is the last in a series of four articles on the topic. Please click here for part one, here for part two, here for part three. PART Four As responsible citizens and consumers, we must act now in ways that help reduce financial, social and environmental burdens associated with excess prescribing, abuse, misuse, and overuse of medicines. Patients and consumers should gradually change their behavior and attitude about excess medicines and closely follow recommended use of and instructions for medicines. Information, awareness, and...
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Commentary on the supply and demand of medicine, its overuse, and the need to regulate and optimize the accessibility of medicinal drugs in the US and beyond. This is part three a series of four articles on the topic. Please click here for part one and here for part two. PART Three Direct and Indirect Cost of Wasted Medicines The 2007 cost of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) prescription program was $74 billion and is predicted to be over $100 billion when the first of 79 million “baby boomers” enter the program this year. In 2009, the Poison Control System, Hennepin County, Minnesota reported the average person over 65 takes between two and seven...
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Commentary on the supply and demand of medicine, its overuse, and the need to regulate and optimize the accessibility of medicinal drugs in the US and beyond. This is part two a series of four articles on the topic. Please click here for part one. PART Two Non-adherence to Medical Treatment Underuse of properly prescribed medicines is common. However, the elderly are more likely to forget to take their medicine as prescribed, stop when they have an adverse drug reaction or interaction, think they are well when they are not, or wish to save money by stretching their medicines. A major difficulty with reading prescription labels and instructions is sufficient to discontinue the medicine often...
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Commentary on the supply and demand of medicine, its overuse, and the need to regulate and optimize the accessibility of medicinal drugs in the US and beyond. This is part one a series of four articles on the topic. The legitimate use and equitable distribution of medicines to restore and maintain health should be based on the public health perspectives of doing the greatest good for the greatest number of our world’s seven billion people. Every country in our global community struggles to establish priorities to address evidence-based needs for safe, effective, and judicious use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines. There are no widely accepted decision-making models to...
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Focus Article / Health / AsiaBy Zhang Hongzhou The 130 million people who are left behind in China’s rural areas are posing a severe challenge to the country’s food security -- for the food producers as much as consumers. The conundrum of the abandoned farmers and farmland may have global implications. Reports by Xinhua News Agency indicated that the migration of over 250 million rural labourers to the cities is hollowing China’s countryside. Besides those working in the cities all year round as unskilled labour, a large number of rural people have migrated to the cities to enter colleges as students or joining the army. For practical reasons, these rural people have to leave behind...
