Global Health Philosophy

Global health concerns relate to health problems that transcend borders, nations, cultures, and ages, affecting and concerning the entire globe. Global cooperation is a vital component in addressing these global health concerns as we live in an ever-growing global society. Global health issues that are of growing concern and will be covered in this philosophy are antibiotic resistance, communicable diseases, and mental health disorders.

Antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance are becoming one of the leading concerns in global health. The reason for this rising global problem can be lead to multiple factors, with the overprescription of antibiotics being a major contributor. This is due to patients sometimes pressuring doctors to get prescribed antibiotics when they have a viral infection because they believe that this will help them get better faster. However, taking antibiotic medication while having a viral infection actually does not help you get better, and you should avoid taking antibiotics when facing a viral infection as it encourages the body to become resistant to the medication. Another contributor to antibiotic resistance is that patients do not follow through with the prescribed dosages, either stopping too early because they feel better or taking double dosages when they forgot to take an earlier one. Another contributor to antibiotic resistance is that lower-income countries usually only have access to very few and specific antibiotics, which results in people in those countries becoming resistant to those antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance affects us all and requires countries to communicate and cooperate in order to prevent this from growing.

Communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculose, Malaria, and Diarrheal disease are a major contributors to global health disparities worldwide. However, even though they are present globally, they disproportionately affect low-income countries and are responsible for half of the deaths occurring in those countries compared to only 18% on a worldwide scale. Communicable diseases have much more of a burden on lower-income countries, and when countries get weather, the prevalence of cases for all communicable diseases decreases. Therefore, countries must work together to combat this crisis. The prevalence and spread of these communicable diseases can be prevented with education, resources, vaccines, and low-cost solutions. Working towards efforts to improve water quality globally and improve sanitation would also be a key factor in addressing the mortality rate of children under the age of 5 in lower-income countries. Communicable diseases impact the entire globe, as was seen with covid, and countries must work together to help those who disproportionately carry the burden of these diseases because we live in an increasingly global society that will make the spread of communicable diseases even more prevalent.

The rise of mental health disorders is quickly becoming a big global health concern, especially for adolescents. Mental health problems are typically established in adolescence, with 50% of all lifetime mental illnesses beginning by age 14, and 70% by age 24. Moreover, suicide is now the 4th leading cause of death for people aged 15-29 year-olds, affecting all populations. This is a very serious development and one that is much harder to deal with after it has been established. Therefore, putting efforts and resources into developing prevention programs should be at the front of this movement. Developing a prevention program to systematically implement into society through, for example, the education system is one of the best ways to address this growing global issue, as environmental factors have a huge impact on this non-communicable disease.

Working together to address antibiotic resistance, the spread of communicable diseases, and the rise of mental health disorders is vital to effectively combat these problems in an increasingly global society. These topics all relate to my professional work of becoming a curriculum developer and instructional designer, as I aim to develop a health literacy curriculum for K-12 education and work towards increasing access to education for all populations through online courses, which will enable a more global and cooperative initiative to work toward solving these global health issues.