In the summer of 2010, I found myself wandering through the village of Kandaria, Kenya, surrounded by the typical African stereotypes: mud huts, women carrying buckets of water on their heads, and children with poked out bellies wearing ragged
clothes. An orphaned ten year old boy names Hillary Otieno lives in the village with his family, surviving on less money per week than I spent on my favorite white chocolate campfire mocha at Caribou on a regular basis. Hillary’s grandmother suffers from goiter, a problem caused by an iodine deficiency which incites the swelling of the thyroid gland and often leads to difficulties in breathing and swallowing. Like Hillary’s grandmother, noncommunicable diseases victimize a widespread of villagers while some even lose family members to these diseases. Non-communicable diseases are non-infectious and non-transmissible among people. Nature magazine addresses the issues of non-communicable diseases as deriving from multiple sources, but offers one solution - a strong national government. This immediate problem demands an immediate solution. The fight against the rising epidemic of non-communicable diseases in poor countries cannot be left to the country's government, for their government infrastructures are weak in themselves; instead, the United Nations and World Health Organization need to direct resources available to elevate education and nutrition in these regions to meet basic needs before addressing any large-scale crisis.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill over 29 million people in low- and middle-income countries such as such as Haiti, Kenya, India, and Urkraine (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs355/en/). Non-communicable diseases takes on four main forms: cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes. Together these four types encompass about 80 percent of all NCDs (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs355/en/). These chronic diseases infect any age group or region of the world, and their widespread nature has left question in where to begin the search for a solution to this epidemic. In an article entitled “Disease priorities“, Nature magazine defends the belief that a strong national government can halt the rise of the NCDs epidemic by implementing a strong national health system stating “Ultimately, a sustained assault on NCDs will require strong national health systems” (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7364/full/477250a.html). While a strong national government and a strong national health system must join forces to combat NCDs, a multifaceted issue does not have such a forthright solution.
Non-communicable diseases rank number one in the cause of deaths worldwide; therefore, postponing the discovery of a solution threatens dire hardships. Biological and geographic variables play an influential role when trying to pinpoint the villain responsible for 36 million deaths worldwide annually (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7364/full/477250a.html). Due to several influencing factors, attributing all of these deaths to one cause appears unrealistic; however, research holds four main risk factors responsible for increasing one’s chance of contracting a non-communicable disease: tobacco use, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diet, and lack of exercise (http://www.globalhealth.gov/global-health-topics/non-communicable-diseases/). As these factors characterize choices of one’s free will, a strong national government will not single handedly influence these factors, unless introducing a dictatorship, but it seems obvious that this solution would produce counterproductive results. Instead, education and nutrition demand the global spotlight.
The problem proposed by NCDs falls directly under the responsibility of the United Nations through World Health Organizations. After World War 2, 51 countries joined together to
form the United Nations (UN) with commitments to better the relations between countries through several disciplines and goals. The third objective of the UN strives to help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms. In order to help achieve the this goal proposed, World Health Organization (WHO) formed as a sector of the UN on April 7, 1948. The global health organization researches, monitors, assesses, and acts upon public health incidents worldwide. The UN and WHO recognize the dangers proposed by NCDs and in response have formulated the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020 which includes the goal to reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 2025 by 25 percent (http://www.who.int/nmh/en/). Placing global emphasis on education and nutrition will make this goal achievable.
Education is often referred to as the gateway to success, and the implementation of a strong education system in poor countries to limit the spread of NCDs follows this same principle. Four out of five children that find themselves unable to attend school live in rural areas (http://www.bmz.de/en/what_we_do/issues/Education/hintergrund/bildungsituation/index.html). Several children enrolled in schools often must drop out in order to work for their families either in the markets or in the family fields, or the effects from crises and war often hinder education. Insufficient primary school budgets in the majority of developing countries create competition for resources in order to meet the demands of the population which often leaves availability to only the elite
upper class and males. With a wide-based population pyramid, developing countries require an increased number of schools, qualified teachers, and resources in order to prevent an overpopulation of resources and to provide an effective education. President Barack Obama recognized the need for resources in this area and created the Global Fund for Education in 2008 in attempt to reach the world’s commitment to make education available globally by 2015. While the creation of this fund provides a great starting point, change demands action. As the majority of the population struggles to read a small children’s booklet, how can we expect these same populations to make educated decisions which affect their well-being?
With a great portion of developing countries living on less than
two dollars a day, hardly any money remains for food after shelter and other basic living necessities are paid for. With only cents remaining, the people in these conditions cannot make wholesome dietary choices to maintain a well-balanced diet. The UN must focus a portion of its funding toward researching and developing methods to provide large quantities of food containing nutrients to combat malnutrition which affects about 16 million people in developing countries (http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm).Biofortification manipulates the contents of basic staple food crops such as wheat, corn, rice, beans, and potatoes, in order to increase their nutritional values (http://www.who.int/elena/titles/biofortification/en/). Biofortification implementation has reduced vitamin-A deficiency through The Golden Rice Project. Funding towards technologies such as biofortification would catalyze other developments designed increase the nutritional values in affordable foods such as staple crops which people can actually afford to purchase on demanding budgets.
http://www.biokemi.org/biozoom/issues/525/articles/2392
Concentration needs to be placed on basic needs such as education and nutrition before upper-level needs such as the stop to the spread of NCDs can occur. In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed a physiological theory commonly known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggested that physiological needs, safety, and a sense of love and belonging must be established before “upper-level needs” such as esteem and self-actualization can be achieved (http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm). Following the same mindset, basic needs of developing countries such as food, water, health, shelter, and employment demand attention before the development of a complex infrastructure such as a national government system can occur.
*United Nations' headquarters and flags photo taken by United Nations Photo
No comments:
Post a Comment