A Grand Reflection

When speaking to my soon to be 80 year old grandmother after Christmas, the penny finally dropped. After informing her of my possible travels to Tanzania and Sri Lanka in 2014, she inadvertently said something which I thought was quite profound. During her travels in her younger years, she recalled flying over Africa. She described how she looked out of the aeroplane window, to witness a sunrise which had colours and depth to which she had never witnessed in her life.

This made me ponder that  6.9 billion people on planet earth live in a world where the sunrises and falls every day. One individual’s sunrise may be mundane and grey, while another’s may be breathtakingly stunning. However the variation of this event is only truly appreciated and understood when it is seen first hand. I believe this is also the case for a multitude of aspects for health around the world. 

In the developed world we take advantage of the most basic of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. We have access to clean water, electricity, clothing, a toilet, an array of foods, a bed to sleep on. Subsequently these are basic human rights: the right for food, housing, health and education, albeit are not always present in a significant portion of the world.

Don’t get me wrong this is not another cry for change in the global south, as we see from many international actors, merely just a reflection I find myself contemplating as I progress through my MSc course. However I find it interesting that on top of these ‘basic’ challenges, we have further obstacles to overcome. 

When a close friend visited in the latter part of 2013, she asked me what actually is Global Health ? 

Well what I like to think the difference is between Global Health and our well known older siblings, International and Public Health, is the fact that Global Health takes a more holistic approach to health issues. Global Health seeks to transcend national boundaries in a globalised world where similar health issues are widely spread among developed and developing countries. Therefore we take elements both from International and Public health, and subsequently Global Health strives to act locally and think globally. 

A personal interest of mine is Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), and I believe this to be a key example of a health issue which transcends boundaries in a unique way. As we know the global prevalence of T2DM has dramatically risen during the last 20 years, and is expected to reach nearly 600 million individuals by 2030. One of the largest rises is seen in low and middle income countries, which partly results from the urbanisation of populations resulting in changes to diet, physical activity and occupation. Subsequently there is not readily available access to T2DM healthcare, nor the education services for preventative or management of this condition. Some individuals are just not aware of the damage which these lifestyle habits can inflict on the bodies. Unfortunately these factors influencing T2DM in developing countries, are very similar to those affecting developed countries. 

Only last month there was the high profile launch of ‘Action on Sugar’ in the United Kingdom. This organisation, lead by a number of leading UK medical professionals, seeks to raise awareness of the added sugar in ever day food products and the subsequent health risks. Unfortunately such efforts are not widely seen in other countries to fight the plight that the food industries have over governments and their populations. 

Albeit not yet at least. Hopefully with time, as advocacy work increases, and the appropriate health care services are developed in low and middle income countries, there will be an improved effort in the prevention and management of T2DM is improved. 

However T2DM is the tip of the iceberg. There are many non communicable diseases which you can mention such as cardiovascular disease, mental health, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer, which are all linked to lifestyle factors which transcend national boundaries. Not to mention communicable diseases, advocacy issues, human right violations, environmental health, the list goes on. 

I look forward to this year to encompassing a more tangible experience on T2DM and other health issues during my time in the previously mentioned countries. With literally my whole year planned within the Global Health sphere, I look forward to continuing my reflections and topic interests onto the blog. 

A message I will take with me is: think outside the box, never take the most basic elements for advantage.