With seven billion people in the world, healthcare and healthcare infrastructure are increasingly important. Public health professionals are currently focusing on the following five topic areas to improve global health. By ensuring that everyone can have access to adequate care, the healthcare community can reduce premature mortality rates and the severity of epidemics. 1. Cancer According to the largest cancer study ever, cancer is actually the leading cause of death in third world nations. It kills more people every year than malaria, HIV and tuberculosis combined. Low- and middle-income countries tend to lag behind in cancer care because this type of treatment is highly expensive to carry out. In nations like Uganda, there may be just one or two doctors trained to …show more content…
A group known as FP2020 has been working to make family planning services available throughout the world. Through their efforts, they have avoided 77 million unplanned pregnancies in just three years. In the United States, a similar problem needs to be addressed. Although the costs and expenses associated with contraception is more accessible for the population, the locations are not. Having access to family planning services ensures that women can get the prenatal care they need for healthy pregnancies. 3. Mental Health With so many diseases and medical conditions to take care of, mental health often takes last place on the list of priorities. Dementia, depression, post-traumatic stress and other disorders affect every country alike. While developing countries need to develop access to mental healthcare, developed nations will need to improve their current facilities. Most westernized nations are experiencing a gradual aging of their population. As the populations aid, mental health will need more mental health professionals in place to handle their care. 4.
Mental illness is nondiscriminatory, can affect any person and transcends all social boundaries. As a result, the issues surrounding mental illness have become common discussion pints among policymakers dedicated or required to formulate solutions around providing the long-term care needed by many patients. Healthcare reforms and changes to the systems that provide services to those living with mental illness and funding for services to the facilities providing care have become major social issues (Goldman, Morrissey, Ridgley, Frank, Newman, & Kennedy, 1992). The reason for this is primarily how it can affect a market economy and how much of a burden diseases of the mind can be in a country such as the United States. According to the 1991 Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the World Health Organization mental health burden accounted for “more than 15% in a market economy such as the U.S.” (The Impact of Mental Illness on Society, 2001). The study also states that for individuals over the age of 5, varying forms of depression are the leading cause of disability. A more recent study indicates that mental illness in general is found in more than 26% of the United States adult population, of which 6% are severe and limit the patient’s ability to function (Martin, p. 163. 2007).
The fertility rate is an important factor when evaluating the health of the public. Despite the United States having one of the best healthcare systems in the world, approximately 13% of women between the age of 18 & 44 have trouble conceiving. Although the US has implemented the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a landmark policy, assisting millions of Americans in obtaining health insurance, unless altered, the policy could hurt the 3 out of 20 women who struggle with infertility. After evaluating the core essential benefits of the Affordable Care Act, the views of stakeholders, and the state mandates, an easy solution can be established to assist those suffering from impaired fecundity.
With the focus on these five areas, Governments in each country are creating health systems that aim to provide services that are affordable, equitable and accessible. To achieve a sustainable health system, cooperation and participation of all health care providers is vital. This will work towards WHO’s goal of achieving “better health for all”
Given the misinformation depicted in the media it is difficult to discern what Planned Parenthood does and exactly how it is that they allocate their funds. Though opponents of Planned Parenthood would have us believe abortions and contraception is what they do, health screenings and prevention is a more accurate description. More so given the array of services they offered and the fact that those they serve are mainly from the uninsured and underrepresented minority population. Though steeped in controversy, Planned Parenthood services are of great benefit to society, more so given their efforts in preventive care. Because
Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health services both for females and males. Services include screening for and treating sexually transmitted diseases, infections, and providing contraception. Another service they provide is abortions; although controversial in 2014 the organization reported that only 3% of their services were for abortions. The organization manages more than 820 health centers in the United States, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru, Nigeria, South Sudan, Senegal, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Nicaragua, and Kenya. Planned Parenthood helps over five million patients a year: most of the patients are impoverished and more than a quarter of the patients are under the age of nineteen years old. According to a latest yearly report, the organization supplied around 860,000 screenings a year for breast and cervical cancer. They also issued nearly 4.5 million examinations and medical care for sexually transmitted diseases. Approximately one-third of its resources are supplied contraceptives. In particular, in its latest yearly report, Planned Parenthood stated that it supply’s knowledge of birth control and services to three million people annually. If Planned Parenthood is defunded there will be less convenience of contraceptives will mean additional undesired pregnancies and more abortions. Out of the three hundred and thirty of the countries, Planned Parenthood helps at least half of the patients who
Of the number of women who obtain contraception care at clinics, more than one-third of them use Planned Parenthood (Marcus). With the removal of these services, there would be a drastic increase in the number of unplanned pregnancies. Each year, Planned Parenthood prevents an estimated 516,000 unexpected pregnancies (Strickland). Not only would the number of unplanned pregnancies increase, but the awareness of sexual education would decrease, as Planned Parenthood provides sex education to 1.5 million people each year (Strickland). While it is easy to assume that women would be able to get access elsewhere, it is simply not feasible. The magnitude at which Planned Parenthood extends its services would not easily be matched. The inability to provide contraception to the women who would go unprovided would create a detrimental problem in the government that is trying to defund the
Making health care more accessible and affordable is one of the most important issues facing our country. Planned Parenthood’s health centers are an integral part of health care safety net. Many women, including the majority of Planned Parenthood patients, do not have a general practitioner and rely on their reproductive health care provider as their primary source of health care. Through this relationship, women have access to a broad range of reproductive health care services that promote and protect their general health and well-being.
There is so much that can be done to create more access to mental health care but we need to start somewhere. To reduce the effects of untreated mental health care, access to care needs to become available to everyone. Having care and access to that care is essential in treating mental illness and to help provide a better life to those suffering from mental illness. Access to care needs to increase so that everyone in the world has a fair shot at receiving help. It's time to take a stand and increase the access to mental health
One of the highlighted provisions within the Affordable Care Act of 2010 was the coverage for all FDA approved forms of contraception without a co-pay. For many patients, this was able to eliminate a financial barrier. However, the largest barriers remain with the clinicians who provide contraception to patients. In a 2014 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “unnecessary medical procedures” were cited as barriers to accessing contraception. Among these were pelvic examinations, routine pregnancy testing, HIV screening, and cervical cytology exams. Notably, there are some instances, as listed out in the United States Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (USMEC), which would require
Access to mental health care is not as good as than other forms of medical services. Some Americans have reduced access to mental health care amenities because they are living in a countryside setting. Others cannot get to treatment for the reason of shortage of transportation or vast work and household tasks. In some areas, when a
In 2010, family planning organizations were allocated $111 million and in the following year was slashed down to a meager $37.9 million, and over half of the state’s Planned Parenthoods lost all funding (White et al., 2015). Subsequently, 25% of existing clinics shut down, and those who managed to keep their doors open had to cut back their hours by 30% (White et al., 2015). Beforehand, clinics were able to offer a sliding scale on payments based off of income, but now due to the lack of funds, they cannot afford to pay the remaining balance for these women in need (White et al., 2015). In tandem, Planned Parenthood is no longer eligible for discount drug pricing and as a result contraceptives have skyrocketed in price, and now they have to judge and decide which patients have the greatest need and are thereby receive more of an allotment (White et al., 2015). As a direct result of raised prices, White et al. (2015) reports that some clinics faced up to a 92% decrease in patients and predicts that pregnancy and STD rates will rise, and state Medicaid costs will soon
A total of 730,322 abortions were reported from the Centers for Disease Control in 2011. This could easily be resolved with proper usage of birth control. But the fact of the matter is that only 62% of women are actually using proper birth control, now this may seem like a lot of women, but there is 158.6 million women in the United States alone so 58.5 million are currently not on any birth control which is a huge amount of women. Birth control needs to be free and accessible, because the benefits of having women on birth control easily outweigh any of the cons that may come. My goal for this paper is to talk about the pros of having free and accessible birth control, which would be lower abortion rate, lower teenage pregnancy rate, and the many health benefits. I will also touch on the opposing side of this argument, which will be that, it will be too expensive, that abstinence is key, and that if birth control became free and accessible women would no longer go the doctor.
The pressing cancer epidemic in the heart of Botswana has signified the necessity for adequate biomedical technologies and personnel within African hospitals. The Princess Marina Hospital in Botswana is notorious for the medical contributions of Dr. P, a German oncologist, and its indoctrination of the Batswana notion of universal health care. As the statistic for cancer diagnosis ceases to decrease, the PMH staff has come to acknowledge their limited access to resources and their deficit of staff members. The implications of the cancer epidemic suggest that the biosocial conditions of developing nations can be attributed to their poor economic status, along with adverse political affairs such as corruption in the government.
Telepsychology is a relatively new development within the field of mental health service. The American Psychological Association defines it as the “provision of psychological services using telecommunication technologies. . . Telecommunication technologies include but are not limited to telephone, mobile devices, interactive videoconferencing, email, chat, text, and Internet (e.g., self-help websites, blogs, and social media).”(2016). Within the general category of telepsychology, psychological services that are delivered via the internet are referred to as “e-therapy”, “itherapy”, “cybertherapy”, and other similar names. E-therapy is a natural extension of our technological advancement, the growth of psychology as a field, and our ever increasing
plays an important role in providing woman with an affordable birth control.(overview pg.2) We depend on our insurance to pay for our health necessities. As a result unplanned pregnancy cost the american public roughly $9 billion each year.(pg.9 should teens have access to BC) Although many forms of birth control are available, such as condoms which are easily to attain. Statistics show that many teens who are sexually active do not use contraceptives of any kind.(pg.9 should teens have access to BC) Among these are the incidence of miscarriages, and abortions.(pg.8 should teens have access to BC) Preventing pregnancy is affordable, but is also a