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Health Disparities
Published in Gia Merlo, Kathy Berra, Lifestyle Nursing, 2023
Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, Ruth-Alma Turkson-Ocran, Oluwabunmi Ogungbe, Samuel Byiringiro, Diana-Lyn Baptiste
Nurses must also advocate for health and wellness for everyone around the globe. Global health disparities are well documented. The majority of African countries have high infant mortality rates, while those in Europe and North America have lower rates (World Health Organization, 2011). The life expectancy of a Malawian child is only 47 years, while that of a Japanese child is 83 years (World Health Organization, 2011). Health disparities exist within and across borders globally. Health conditions eradicated in many wealthy countries continue to claim millions of lives in resource-constrained nations. Factors including political, environmental, and socioeconomic motives fuel these disparities, yet socially and economically disadvantaged people are disproportionately affected. The epidemiological transition may account for global health disparities. The epidemiologic transition refers to the shift of the pattern of mortality and the cause of death from communicable diseases to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as CVD, degenerative diseases, cancers, and mental health ailments (McCracken & Phillips, 2017; Mendoza & Miranda, 2017; Mercer, 2018). The epidemiologic transition is the result of globalization, access to better healthcare, and changes in the standards of living. For instance, the rising rates of CVD in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are attributed to change in lifestyle behaviors (Burroughs Pena & Bloomfield, 2015).
Urbanisation and Globally Networked Cities
Published in Kezia Barker, Robert A. Francis, Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, 2021
Chronic conditions, in contrast, develop slowly, possess a rising tide character and in most cases end only if the diseased individual dies – they usually are lifelong conditions. Both types of diseases also show differences in terms of their relevance (to whom do they matter?) and their visibility (how are they embedded in the medical discourse?). Chronic conditions have sometimes been discussed as characteristic of modern societies or even of the modernisation process as such. While concepts such as the epidemiological transition model (Omram, 2005) have been rightfully criticised for being overly simplistic in their attempt to determine disease risks and mortality on a global scale, infectious diseases are indeed bound to those conditions that the involved infectious agents need to survive and thrive.
Aging and health promotion in Brazil
Published in Karin Volkwein-Caplan, Jasmin Tahmaseb McConatha, Ageing, Physical Activity and Health, 2018
Maria Beatriz Rocha Ferreira, Antonia Dalla Pria Bankoff, Eliana Lucia Ferreira
The 2010 demographic data point out the varying need of improvement in different sectors of the Brazilian society, focusing on the greater longevity of people. Between 2002 and 2012, Brazil underwent changes that produced significant impacts on the living conditions of the population, such as dynamics in the labor market; rights and benefits linked to the human rights; valuation of the minimum wage; creation, expansion, and consolidation of a set of public policies related to work; health and education; as well as improvement of living conditions and well-being, such as adequate sanitation, health programs, incidence control of various diseases, among others (IBGE, 2013). As a result of these factors, the epidemiological transition characterized a change in the morbidity and mortality profile of the population, with a progressive decrease in deaths due to infectious diseases and an increase in deaths due to chronic diseases. This fact provoked a need for the country to adapt an entire system that treats children with infectious parasitic diseases as a priority over older people suffering from chronic degenerative diseases. This paradigm shift was instrumental in thinking about health and education programs starting at a young age in order to prevent future problems. These changes are still an ongoing process (BRASIL, 2010). Today there are three programs in particular that receive specific funds: care for the elderly, hypertensitivity, and women. This was a breakthrough for the elderly.
WHO Vision 2020: Have We Done It?
Published in Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 2023
Dalia Abdulhussein, Mina Abdul Hussein
The global population continues to grow and it is predicted to reach 9.7 billion in 2050.39 The rate of population growth seems to be highest in the least developed countries. Since the 1980s, the region with the fasted growing population has been seen in sub-Saharan Africa.39 Currently, the share of the global population aged 65 years and older is 10%. This figure is projected to increase to 16% by 2050.39 By 2050, the number of people aged 65 years and older is estimated to be more than twice the number of under 5 year olds and roughly equivalent to the number of under 12 year olds.39 The ageing population puts vision impairment at the forefront of the global health agenda. Cataract, glaucoma, AMD, diabetic retinopathy and presbyopia are some of the commonest causes of vision impairment.40 All occur more frequently in the older population. This is made even more evident by the shift in the pattern of leading causes of preventable blindness we have observed over the last 30 years.40 Whereas infectious causes such as trachoma and onchocerciasis held a larger share in the causes of preventable blindness, this has now been replaced by non-communicable eye diseases (NCED) such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and AMD.3,40 The explanation for this lies in the epidemiological transition, that is a change in lifestyle leading to a change in population health, among middle- and now low-income countries.41
Urinary proteomics combined with home blood pressure telemonitoring for health care reform trial: rational and protocol
Published in Blood Pressure, 2021
Lutgarde Thijs, Kei Asayama, Gladys E. Maestre, Tine W. Hansen, Luk Buyse, Dong-Mei Wei, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Jana Brguljan-Hitij, Hao-Min Cheng, Fabio de Souza, Natasza Gilis-Malinowska, Kalina Kawecka-Jaszcz, Carina Mels, Gontse Mokwatsi, Elisabeth S. Muxfeldt, Krzysztof Narkiewicz, Augustine N. Odili, Marek Rajzer, Aletta E. Schutte, Katarzyna Stolarz-Skrzypek, Yi-Wen Tsai, Thomas Vanassche, Raymond Vanholder, Zhen-Yu Zhang, Peter Verhamme, Ruan Kruger, Harald Mischak, Jan A. Staessen
The epidemiological transition is a global demographic change characterised by a longer life expectancy, but the number of years added to the human life comes at a cost of lower quality of life, i.e. a greater number of years lived with disability [1]. This demographic change represents a huge social and economic challenge. Health care will have to adjust to remain sustainable by moving emphasis from the resource-intensive and costly management of established disease to prevention. Given this context, UPRIGHT-HTM (Urinary Proteomics Combined with Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring for Health Care Reform [NCT04299529]) focuses on chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diastolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (DVD), as archetypes of chronic age-related diseases, and as outlined below on two diagnostic modalities that might contribute to an improved prevention of CKD and DVD, as forerunners of premature mortality and morbidity.
Protection against severe infectious disease in the past
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2021
Toward the end of the 19th century, the decline in family size and new housing reduced average household size [38; 73:174], which probably reduced the severity of the infectious diseases of childhood. New scientific discoveries about microbial causal agents provided a rationale for measures to control the transmission of infectious diseases, such as personal, domestic and food hygiene, isolation of cases and institutional care for the sick. Improved knowledge about infant care contributed to a decline in mortality, which along with declining death rates at ages over 35 led to a more rapid improvement in life expectancy from 50 to 69 years between 1901 − 1951 [29:238]. This occurred despite the continuing lack of effective treatment for most infectious diseases before the use of antibiotics for cases in the civilian population after World War II [113:91 − 109]. Diseases that probably killed the majority of people in earlier times had been controlled through prevention, changes in health-related behavior, and social organization. After the 1950s, severe cases of acute infectious disease became relatively rare in England. The decline in infectious disease mortality gave rise to the concept of epidemiological transition from acute infectious disease to chronic conditions associated with age. However, emerging diseases and the pandemics of influenza and HIV/AIDS led to the modification of transition models based on linear progression through distinct phases characterized by predominant diseases [4].