Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Week 4 (Feb 1, 2007) - Changing Trends in Non-Communicable Diseases: Implications for Global Health
Even those of us in public health struggle with how to priortize the double burden of disease. The perspective that I hope we can all come to agree upon is that there is enough resources to go around. If we can come to a more equitable distribution of resources, than perhaps we don't have to decide if we are going to address communicable or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in countries where both are pressing problems. Since we know that NCDs are rapidly replacing infectious diseases as the leading cause of death, we cannot only focus our public health efforts on infectious disease. With that said, the unfortunate truth is that some of the most disadvantaged people in the world are the ones who continue to be at the greatest risk for communicable disease. So, in order not to further marginalize the people of sub-saharan Africa, we have to continue to view communicable diseases as a threat to global health, despite the rapid increase in NCDs. Any other thoughts ?
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7 comments:
I think you are absolutely right. The communicable diseases that are still rampant in Sub-Sahara Africa are still a major threat to global health. There needs to continue to be a concentrated effort to curbing these very preventable infectious diseases in order to bring these areas up to speed with where the rest of the developed world is at.The fact that countries in Africa are still so affected by diseases such as Malaria, which is so preventable, is ridiculous. I do think that there is "unfinished business" as Dr. Shahi put it, in areas such as Sub-Sahara Africa and that the public health field needs to not move on to tackling other issues such as NCD without first taking care of these very easily preventable ones.
One quick question after reading your blog... what do you mean by the term, "double burden of disease?"
Well, I feel that both NCD and CD are just as important but I think it is easier to prevent or eradicate CD. This is due to the fact that it may have been around longer and there has been more implementations done globally in the past centuries. Nowadays with new technological, biomedical and medication discoveries the prevention of Communicable Disease is more possible. But the concern is, who is going to provide and educate underprivileged people of the world to understand this issue and help them to wipe out this matter!
I think it is time for SERIOUS ACTION, especially over the challenges that we have control on!
Yes Brian, I think most students enjoy the videos also. It’s a new method of learning in our public health program. Personally since I have a visual memory it is very useful and interesting for me.
BRAC Video presents so much information that often I feel overwhelmed. Creating the sustainable program is a great method to go with. One of the main challenges that Public Health Professionals face with is the issue of sustainability, which we can overcome by working together globally and also involving welfare programs supported by governmental and non-governmental organizations. This way our hard work will not get wasted!
Hello Alexis,
The double burden of disease refers to countries who are still facing major problems with communicable disease, but are now also having to deal with rising NCDs.
Andrea
I wish I could share your optimism implied in the transition from the two statements
[1]...I hope we can all come to agree upon is that there is enough resources to go around. [2]... perhaps we don't have to decide if we are going to address communicable or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in countries where both are pressing problems.
In the near future, however, I personally don't foresee the kind of equitable distribution necessary to provide intervention programs to address both at the same time. Along these lines, I am inclined to agree with Gandhi that "There's enough on this planet for every one's need but not for every one's greed." With capitalism supporting selfish interests of the greedy, the reality is that the resources available to provide assistance are sparce. The challenge, then, is to utilize the scarce resources to achieve the greatest health outcome in these countries experiencing the "double burden of disease." The focus then is to research how these resources could provide the biggest bang for the buck. I agree with the implication that this shouldn't be the case, however.
I thought the videos were extremely helpful, it really gave us the big picture and ties everything together appropriately.
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