blog 10

White House Expert: Global Health is National Security Issue

Elizabeth Cameron, director for countering biological threats with the national security council, talks about how we face global challenges to fund the needed leverage of recourses to help better detect and respond to disease threats. The challenge is finding the funds to help this research and detection is at its highest and most effective potential as possible. Over the past decade, public health threats such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, and certain flu strains, including H5N1 and H1N1, have set local, regional and national governments in a hurry to coordinate a response. This article talked about the need to get past more than just Emergency preparedness. We have to get beyond asking how quickly cases were detected or how many vaccines were delivered and must get to a deeper understanding of the root causes, how and why this public health emergency occurred and why the system preformed as it did.

                  Understanding why and how a certain disease arose is important to making sure a global health crisis doesn’t occur, however it is also important come up with ways to solve future problems that haven’t occurred. Preparedness is crucial when it comes to preventing disease on a global level. Infections life threatening and contagious disease spread is so easily spread if we do not find ways to prevent the problem before it becomes a problem. For example, when we figured out that simply washing our hands after using the bathroom or before eating, we created a way to help minimize the chance of disease spread. Things as simple as this can help us prevent outbreaks that could become a global health problem. As technology advances we should make sure that we not only advance with that technology but we educate others that are less privileged and don’t have the recourses to become aware of this knowledge, become aware.

http://www.georgetown.edu/news/avian-flu-symposium-2014.html

Neurostimulation

Neurostimulation is catching the worlds attention and in particular the medical advancement and scientific industries. Neurostimulation devices are increasingly being used to help with pain management. Each year an estimated 100 million people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. The current solution to treat chronic pain is mostly drugs. In the long run drugs are increasingly proven to not help consistently. Currently, neurostimulation devices have begun test trials to treat chronic pain. These trials are undergoing for disorders such as epilepsy, obesity, Parkinson's disease, depression, sexual dysfunction, cardiovascular disorders, movement disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, urinary tract disorders, sensory disorders and drug addiction. People are still hesitant to have a device inserted into their bodies but the test and trials that they are undergoing, seem to be promising.

            This idea of having an electronic device placed into our bodies does seem a bit scary, however we are practically doing the same thing when we consume a pill. Drugs are often abused and addictive when treating chronic diseases and disorders. I think that electronic devices will become less scary as technology advances and a few brave individuals begin to show positive side effects to this neurostimulation devices. As our society advances and technology slowly and steadily increases, so will peoples perceptions of these devices.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neurostimulation-technologies-and-global-markets-255216171.html

World Health Day 2014.

World Health Day 2014: Preventing Vector-borne diseases – ‘Small bite, big threat’

The World Health Organization highlighted a particular risk of disease for April 7^th, which is world health day. Vector-borne diseases strike more than one billion people every year and more than one million die from those diseases. The WHO emphasized that these diseases are entirely preventable. By making a health agenda that gives a higher priority to vector control, we could save lives. Vector-borne diseases mostly effect poor population due to the large amount of poor housing conditions and un safe drinking water. By making things available such as more bug nets that are distributed to more people who might not have access to travel to a lace to get one and by providing these places with safer drinking water, we could help prevent more deaths do to these type of vector-borne diseases. Mosquito-borne dengue, for example, is now found in 100 countries, putting more than 2.5 billion people – over 40% of the world’s population at risk.

            This last statistic is a key-shocking factor in creating awareness of possible disease risks that can drastically impact our world’s population and deaths. The WHO is a create organization that seems to be great at spreading awareness about disease and health issues such as this however it would be even more helpful if each state found some way to create awareness of different types of disease and possible outbreaks worldwide. The awareness of people in the US is a good thing however it is more important to create the awareness and the proper preventative equipment to those that are in poorer regions of the world were awareness and actually help can actually save a life or even a whole communities life.

http://health.india.com/healthcare/world-health-day-2014-preventing-vector-borne-diseases-small-bite-big-threat/

Pollution is the world’s biggest killer: Dirty air has overtaken heart disease, diet and even smoking-related deaths as the biggest preventable killer:
     

In 2012 one in eight deaths worldwide were linked to pollution. The main causes of death linked to this pollution are heart disease, strokes and lung disease. The World Health Organization reported that in 2012 pollution was the world’s single biggest environmental health risk. It was the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. The risks and evidence is more prevalent than ever before that air pollution is a huge risk factor that must be corrected if we hope to have a future on this earth. Indoor pollution is a large cause of cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves. The World Health Organization confirmed that 2.9 billion people worldwide live in home that uses this thing as their main cooking fuel. Poorer countries obviously have a higher risk of indoor pollution because many of them don’t have any other cooking options. Outdoor pollution is mainly transported by power generation, industrial and agricultural emissions and residential heating and cooking. Although alternate environmental friendly products are more expensive to produce, they could in return save our environment and billions of lives. Money is obviously always going to be a factor when it comes to technology. It is the sad but true side of how far the industrial revolution and modern technology has taken us, which has left us still polluting the air that we breathe. The solution to this problem has been discovered. Technological adamants have given us environmentally friendly ways to stop this pollution and save more lives, however the world is run by people in power and people in power usually don’t give away expensive things to people that can afford them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2590059/Pollution-worlds-biggest-killer-Dirty-air-overtaken-heart-disease-diet-smoking-related-deaths-biggest-preventable-killer.html

Polio conquered, measles next on target list

Polio conquered, measles next on target list

 With the current excitement of India becoming polio free earlier this year, their next focus is on measles are their next target. Measles mostly affects children in India due to lack of vaccines. According to the World Health Organization, measles is a highly contagious viral disease that is transmitted by droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected people. Routine vaccinations are the key focus in defeating this disease. A child who has been given the vaccine is much less likely to develop life-threatening symptoms of this disease. Measles are highly prone to poverty, lack of adequate medical facilities that is usually found in low socio-economic strata’s.

            In order for this disease to no longer be a huge death factor in India, vaccines must be easily accessible which means money and recourses must be available. Government must step in and make it easier to find vaccines and organizations must go out and seek people in areas that might not be aware of the importance of regular vaccines to prevent this disease. At times it is necessary for government to provide funds to help better a society. Health and disease spread is a huge issue for under developed countries. We must reach out and health other countries with this problem because the spread of disease might one day effect us, as well as the rest of the globe.

http://health.india.com/news/polio-conquered-measles-next-on-target-list/

blog 5 Global Health Concerns Are Much More Than Infectious Disease.

http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/global-health-concerns-are-much-more-than-infectious-disease/

Infectious disease causes damage through loss of lives, economy, and the ability to recover. 80 percent of nations are unprepared to manage pandemic infections and the international response is to amass resources to prevent and handle them. the world health organization is also concerned with another equally harmful issue. cancer strikes outrageous amounts of deaths annually. one third of these deaths are preventable. the number of cancer related deaths are forecasted to rise and the world health organization is looking into how to avoid this rise. the lack of treatment and vaccines in developing countries is a huge factor in relating to these death. The UICC calls World Cancer Day a way the world can come together in fighting the global cancer epidemic and acknowledging the public health problem. this global awareness could help stop the amount of cancer related deaths and give others that are not aware of treatment or regular early defective scanning's to help detect early signs of cancer. By creating awareness and giving countries that do not have the ability to treat or detect this disease, we are helping less developed countries become aware of these opportunities that might help lower the number of cancer deaths world wide. awareness is a powerful tool that can save lives. knowledge is power and power can save a life. 

An End to Polio in India

An End to Polio in India

India has been a huge contributor in the pass of being a hotbed for spreading polio to other countries suck as China. Thankfully the last case of polio found in India was three years ago. This is mostly due to the World Health Organization learning from their mistakes and the financial support of the government. India counts as a third of the world’s meals deaths. Public health is at a low in India and the spending to help support health is one of the lowest in the world. Surprisingly, the government decided to step up and covered 95 % coverage when it came to polio. The success that India has had with efforts to help create routine vaccinations for polio has become the blue print for other large health campaigns. This campaign was largely successful because they began to learn from their failures. Another large contributing factor was that government decided to step in and spend more money on supporting this cause. The World Health Organization also played a huge role in this effort and its success. They would go door to door making sure vaccines were available and marking those who were vaccinated receive a small mark under their nail so that the health workers knew they had received their vaccination. This is a huge and exciting moment in our history. India is not only one of the most populated countries in the world but they are also one of the poorest and most prone to disease. If other countries look at how India is handling this preventative health measure. And learning from their past mistakes, then we might be able to drastically stop the spread of infection and disease globally.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/an-end-to-polio-in-india/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Fear over global, infectious disease outbreaks encourages 27 countries to form pact.

 This fear of global disease outbreaks has caused the new Global Health Security to aim to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases. The problem at hand is that most poor countries are not prepared to contain or detect outbreaks, which could in return have extreme global consequences.

            The majority of these 27 countries are poorer and not prepared for global health and disease threats. They do not have effective disease- surveillance and control systems, which could help, contain and detect certain outbreaks. The US is already spending 300 million dollars a year to construct laboratories and other health related security overseas. The Global Health Securities plan is to prevent the possibility of these outbreaks by having a very limited amount of labs that hold dangerous microbes and also by providing more vaccination programs.

            The over all goals are to prevent the threat and probability of global disease outbreak. If this is the over all goal than certain actions must be taken. First there is the need for funding and political support worldwide. The countries that agreed to try to improve the prevention of global disease had until June 2012 to strengthen surveillance to detect disease and 84% failed to do so.  The main reason these countries failed to do so is because many of them cant afforded the cost that it takes to detect these diseases and therefore preventing outbreaks is much more unlikely.

            Another very troubling issue is the transporting of certain samples to facilities and labs that can conduct the proper testing of early detection. The key is finding a system that is fast and safe for countries to be able to send samples and receive feedback and results as quickly as possible.  Global disease prevention is a worldwide problem and will cause us to work together with other countries in order to prevent a global epidemic. This issue will impact all countries worldwide so therefore the importance of helping poorer countries prevent and detect possible outbreaks is crucial.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/fear-global-disease-sparks-pact-article-1.1613563 

Cancer Cases Worldwide to Jump to 22 Million

 Throughout this article the World Health Organization speaks out about how it is up to our Government to make better use of vaccines and preventative public health policies to fight cancer because treatment alone will not stop this disease. The main objective in this article is that the rate of deaths is only estimated to rise higher due to cancer. The richest countries are being hurt from this cost of cancer, which is harming the economy. In 2010, the total annual economic cost of cancer was estimated at around $1.16 trillion. The article says that almost half of all cancers could be avoided if knowledge about the current cancer preventions were available. Data shows that one in five men and one in six women worldwide will develop cancer before they reach 75 years old, while one in eight men and one in 12 women will die from the disease. Developing countries seem to be the most effected by deaths of cancer due to not enough prevention knowledge available, not being able to detect early side effects and not being able to afford treatment. Governments will need to invest in the better screening programs and early detection in order to stop this increasing deathly disease. This article did a great job at pointing out certain statistics that I was not aware of. I feel that we live in a socially cancer awarded society but still we seem to not be making as much progress as we need to when it comes to making treatment, screening and knowledge of this disease costly available to not just the richest society but worldwide.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/02/03/cancer-cases-worldwide-to-jump-to-22-million/  

Blog 1 : Alzheimer not just a rich country disease anymore.

Now days, life spans are drastically increasing due to all of the medical progressions that the world has developed globally. Although these longer life spans seem to be a positive thing, it is very capable of becoming a huge population problem and expense for our country and others in this same dilemma. In the article titled Alzheimer’s: Not just a Richer Country Disease Anymore, Joshua Keating writes about the growing problems of Alzheimer’s in China. The first problem is that there aren’t enough qualified physicians to treat these Alzheimer patients. Recourses are another huge factor. The welfare system is already stretched as this country faces this crisis of older people living longer than the system originally planned for.

            This article shows the dilemma that a system faces when population or longer life spans, come into play. When people start to live longer I would like to think that that would be a positive thing, however, after taking a deeper look into things such as population problems and running out of resources, it makes me wonder if it is a good thing or not.

            After looking at this article I have noticed constant trends of disease, which is linked to the scientific advancements of medicine. I believe that certain things must be in balance in order to further advance our medical advances without leaving our elderly uncared for. There is an odd gap of generational help offered to those in need in this era. We are so excited about advancing our medical research that we forget about those that we want to help. The money given to further advance our medical treatments and cures must also be used, first and foremost, in care for and helping this upside down pyramid epidemic of people living longer than expected.

            http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/01/28/alzheimer_s_not_just_a_rich_country_disease_anymore.html?wpisrc=burger_bar

first blog

I will focus on health, disease and population problems. I chose this topic because I think that health and disease are huge issues that effect us globally.