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Health is the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being of a population and not merely the absence of a disease or infirmity (Kühn & Rieger, 2017). Health, therefore, plays a significant role in the as it entails the well-being of the general population in the society apart from focusing on a personal perspective. Being free from a disease does not imply that a person is healthy and the same case applies to the other components of a healthy individual that include lack of disability which is physical as well as the mental wellness of a person and the general population as well. Global health on the other side refers to the health of a population in the global context, that is, around the world. Global health can be defined as an area of research and practice that sets up priorities in the improvement of health as well as the achievement of global equity in health for all the populations around the globe.
Global health emphasizes issues that transcend the national borders and therefore have political and economic impacts on the globe if not addressed (DeLaet & DeLaet, 2015). The primary aim of global health is about the improvement of the health of a people worldwide, reducing the disparities as well as protecting the people against global threats that do not recognize national borders. Such threats include terrorism that may take various forms such as bioterrorism that leaves a large number of people either disabled or dead and therefore being a global health concern. Global health is measured as the function of various global diseases and conditions along with their prevalence and the threats to decreasing the life expectancy of the population in the globe. Multiple agencies are mandated to oversee the issues of global health, and these include international agencies such as the world health organization, UNICEF as well as the world food program. Besides, the united nations also play a significant role in addressing the issues concerning global health as well as the underlying socioeconomic determinants as stipulated under the millennium development goals as well as the sustainable development goals.
Global health is, therefore, a concern for all the countries in the globe, and thus measures have to be put in place so that the world is able to achieve their primary aim of global health that involves the achievement of improved health of a population around the globe. For this to be possible, there have to be necessary skills that need to be imparted to the parties responsible for dealing with the global health issues. Skills are acquired through training, and therefore it is necessary for people to be trained so that they are ready to fight against global health problems. The problems may have a tremendous impact in the reduction of the life expectancy of a population in all the aspects of health that include physical to minimize disability, emotional and spiritual as well as social well-being to ensure that communities live in harmony.
Communication skills both verbal and written are essential skills in solving the global health problems (O’Toole, 2016). Communication is essential in various ways as it helps in coordinating all the parties involved in dealing with global health issues as well as sourcing for information from the people affected. Without proper communication channels, it will be difficult for a team that is entrusted with the mandate of carrying research or surveillance in that they are not able to communicate with one another. Language barriers, therefore, may play a significant role in hindering solution finding in a problem. Besides, writing is another important component of the communication skills that are involved in noting down findings of the research as mere verbal communication does not entirely solve the communication of ideas from one region to another. The reason is that a lot of writing is needed in recording various sheets especially in the data collections points where a person must be able to read and write. Literacy, therefore, is the crucial point in finding a solution in reducing the global health impact.
Strong work ethics is another skill that individuals are supposed to have in the attempt to understanding and to solve global health issues (Crane & Matten, 2016). Ethics refers to the code of conduct that a person or an employee is expected to have when working for an organization. Being an ethical person means that one is able to follow the rules and regulations that are set by the organization and therefore the achievement of a goal is made easy as everyone is geared to its success. Abiding by the rules such as those of the world health organization makes it easy for the organization to carry on with its activities as one is expected to work within the framework of the organization. There are various factors of work ethics that include prioritizing, goal-oriented, being available and reliable when expected to offer your services, conscientiousness, embracing positivism as well as creating a rewarding system that aims at encouraging people to work best in achieving the goals of improving the health of a population.
Teamwork can as well be used to solve global health problems (Tomizawa et el. 2017). People need to work as a team especially if they have a common objective, to this case the common goal is to improve the health of a population. Therefore the relevant parties and stakeholders need to work together as one to make sure that they fulfill their goal. Failure to work as a team means that there are divided loyalties within the parties involved in solving the problem and this might prove the achievement of global health to be difficult. Therefore, to understand and address the issues of a globe, teamwork skills are essential as work done together is simplified due to specialization rather than when there is no unity.
Problem-solving skills are also an essential factor in understanding as well as in solving global health problems (Kammen & Hassenzahl, 2018). One has to understand an issue to make a valid decision concerning a global health problem. To come up with the best solution, a person must possess the problem-solving skills that enable them to make a more suitable decision that is beneficial for all with minimum risks in the health sector. Moreover, flexibility is needed in solving the global health issues in that; one has to be flexible in decision making as well as adopting various strategies that may be deemed crucial solving the issue at hand depending on what is presented. Flexibility skills, therefore, may work hand in hand with the problem-solving skills as they make the person not only to make relevant decisions but as well adopt the most suitable solution for the problem.
The stakeholders in the global health field advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to solving global health issues (Nelson & Staggers, 2016). Health is a worldwide concern that affects every person in the globe, and therefore every person needs to be informed about issues regarding health both at personal level and international level. An interdisciplinary approach is achieved in schools whereby students are taught various subjects but in these subjects, there are topics related to health, and this makes it possible for almost all the student able to acquire the essential knowledge regarding health problems affecting the globe. In case a person missed a session in one subject, there is a possibility that they will learn it either at an advanced level or in a different discipline within the curriculum.
An interdisciplinary approach, therefore, aims at educating the students about the health of a population by using the curriculum in various nations using the same contents to be taught all over the world. The main reason is that there are no variations in the information provided as the issues presented are the same no matter the subject. Apart from the curriculum, various disciplines in the field of health are recommended by the public health to work as one, for example, the biological sciences, nursing sciences and the field of medicine also work in collaboration. And this is to ensure that the common goal of improving the health of a population across the globe is achieved through activities such as first aid and data analysis.
In schools, various subjects are offered and have insights into global health as they are aimed at educating the students about the health issues of a population. Biology is my major and has various health issues presented in it. Biology offers insight into global health as many health issues are have been discussed and a link to most of the diseases established to the biological makeup of an individual (Hanson & Gluckman, 2015). Some of the links include the enzymes, hormones, insulin for the regulation of blood sugar as well as the inflammatory modulators that are best explained in the field of biology. There are various research methodologies that are as well explained in the field of biology with some of them including questionnaires where raw data is obtained regarding to the global health problems such as HIV/AIDS, analyzed and consequently programs are developed with also monitoring and evaluation being a key component to establishing the progress made in the aim to improve the global health.
Various researches have been conducted with the aim of identifying the global health issues and this results to various case studies to which are aimed to bringing an insight of what health conditions are like, presenting the symptoms for the students to distinguish. The case study involves type I diabetes that is more prevalent in children (Atkinson et al. 2014). Two young girls aged five and a cousin aged seven years were found in a village in California at a critical condition. They were rushed to a nearby hospital as they had severe signs of thirst, fatigue, hunger, sweating, and nausea. Upon diagnosis, the two girls were found to be diabetic, and they were to receive emergency treatment. Diabetes is a genetic condition that has the probability of attacking children of related families. From the case study, the two girls are close relatives, and this indicates that some of their parents have diabetes also. With diabetes having no borders, it has attacked a large population in the world and therefore becoming a global health issue as well as a condition of public health importance. Diabetes is a global health issue that is studied in both biology and the medical sciences. Many children are affected by the type I diabetes that is due to insulin deficiency. Insulin regulation is studied in biology for the purpose of providing awareness on diabetes as well as other nutrition conditions.
Health issues are on the rise across the globe such as diabetes, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis as well as malaria that calls for a collaboration between the relevant parties and stakeholders such as the WHO to work hard in achieving the health of its people. A condition is regarded as a global health issue if it transcends the boundaries of a country extending to three or more and therefore having a massive impact on the health of the population involved. An interdisciplinary approach is relevant in solving global health issues whereby disciplines such as biology, medicine, and physical sciences are advised to work together and help in achieving the common goal. Skills such as problem-solving, decision making and teamwork are also essential in solving global health issues.
References
Atkinson, M. A., Eisenbarth, G. S., & Michels, A. W. (2014). Type 1 diabetes. The Lancet, 383(9911), 69-82.
Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
DeLaet, D. L., & DeLaet, D. E. (2015). Global health in the 21st century: the globalization of disease and wellness. Routledge.
Hanson, M. A., & Gluckman, P. D. (2015). Developmental origins of health and disease–global public health implications. Best practice & research Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology, 29(1), 24-31.
Kammen, D. M., & Hassenzahl, D. M. (2018). Should we risk it?: Exploring environmental, health, and technological problem solving. Princeton University Press.
Kühn, S., & Rieger, U. M. (2017). Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely absence of disease or infirmity. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, 13(5), 887.
Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2016). Health Informatics-E-Book: An Interprofessional Approach. Elsevier Health Sciences.
O’Toole, G. (2016). Communication-eBook: Core Interpersonal Skills for Health Professionals. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Tomizawa, R., Shigeta, M., & Reeves, S. (2017). Framework development for the assessment of interprofessional teamwork in mental health settings. Journal of interprofessional care, 31(1), 43-50.
