Responses to Natural Disaster

My Insights:
More resources need to be devoted to emergency preparedness. There is a ton of data which supports the idea that emergency health interventions like temporary shelters and field hospitals are indisputably more costly and less effective than preparedness-related health activities.

Several problems include: decision makers and relief workers lack of experience with disaster management because of frequent turnover in their jobs and lack of funding. Strategies include developing public support and political initiative in periods where there is no disaster. Efforts should commence in a long term, institutionalized format.

Graphical reference:
The hurricane Katrina in 2005, may not have only been the result of nature but potentially man made. Humans may be causing global warming and are thus the culprits of our own demise...

Inspiring Quote:
The human spirit needs places to go to, where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

Technology Innovation and Global Health

My Insights are:
Times are changing. With innovations in information technology (IT), transforming health care through IT will result in significant cost savings to governments, insurers, and individuals over the long term as well as reduce stress on economies and workforces. It will provide opportunities for people to keep records of their own health.

Many inequalities exist in access to health care services with up-to-date IT developments (lack of available services to the public in developing nations and access limitations due to price inequalities in developed nations) and this is one of the biggest problems... how to effectively introduce IT innovations in a cost-efficient manner so that there is improved access to all. Another problem is that there needs to be global collaboration with the increase of more public-private parterships.

Graphical References:
Thermography as a way to diagnose breast cancer. It uses colorful imaging sensors to display areas where cancer could or is developing. Also the picture at right is a before (L) and after (R) of a hair restoration treatment at the Hair Restore Japan Contest in Tokyo.

Inspiration Quote:
Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ~C.P. Snow, New York Times, 15 March 1971

Technology Innovations

My Insights: Here are four challenges and great themes in the 21st century.

• Integration of out international perspectives


• Translating research into technological innovation


• Create partnerships and alliances across industries


• Demonstrate value and wealth through entrepreneurial ideas.

My initial thoughts to these four challenges is that they are redundant and simplistic but unfortunately these themes are still not a reality. It's easier said than done to envision a world who already follows all four of these ideals. We, as the United States are not yet integrating our technological advances, knowledge, resources and wealth with those in the developing nations (as we are a capitalistic nation) but we must integrate with each other. We must continue to translate new emerging ideas into technological advances. Yesterday, I read about the realization of providing HIV tests to those in the ER, in Los Angeles County, and providing test results to patients in a one hour turn-around time. The problem stated was that many people do not know they are carrying the HIV virus and for up to 10 years on average, it goes undiagnosed (according to NPR). Those who do take the HIV tests, have a tendency to not return after the two-week wait period and show up for the in-person deliverance of results. In other words, the waiting period is lengthy and the results are only given when patients show up in person, which is rather daunting to most (according to wsj.com). Anyways, translating the idea of awareness of HIV into technology is such as amazing idea for two reasons:

1. Public health officials hope of improving health care delivered to those with HIV because an earlier diagnoses can help in delivering accurate treatment of HIV patients who are accessing basic and other services, and


2. Reducing the number of incidence cases appearing because the assumption is that when people know they are HIV positive, they will take precautions to reduce the spread through sexually protected scenarios.

Graphical References: With rapid increases in biomedical sciences, millions of people living in developing countries are in situations of dire poverty with limited access to clean water sources, food, safety, homes and even basic health care. Why cannot the developed countries devote more resources with the potential for science and technology to merge to improve living conditions, control disease and improve lives.

Inspirational Quotes: "Discovery is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought." - Albert Szent-Gyorgi

Environment, Sustainability and Health

My Insights: From the reading, I learned about the unique relationship between... environmental pitfalls and poverty. I never really considered povery a link to environmental problems, but after the reading I do see a connection.

"Many environmental problems stem from poverty—often contributing to a downward spiral in which poverty exacerbates environmental degradation and environmental degradation exacerbates poverty. In poor rural areas, for example, there are close links among high infant mortality, high fertility, high population growth and extensive deforestation, as peasants fell tropical forests for firewood and new farmland..." - United Nations Development Programme (2003). Chapter 6 - Public Policies to Ensure Environmental Sustainability. Human Development Report 2003. Oxford University Press.

Graphical Image: Global warming is causing deserts to become drier which causes drought and famine (called desertification - like the Sahara in Africa); and ocean temperatures to raise and become warmer which will cause violent weather patterns like flooding, hurricanes and tornadoes (as in the Atlantic Ocean) .

Two Contrasting Unique Quotes on global warming that unfortunately have divided the people of United States:
"Two thousand scientists, in a hundred countries, engaged in the most elaborate, well organized scientific collaboration in the history of humankind, have produced long-since a consensus that we will face a string of terrible catastrophes unless we act to prepare ourselves and deal with the underlying causes of global warming."
AL GORE, speech at National Sierra Club Convention, Sept. 9, 2005

“...we have an environmental movement that is run by people who want to fight, not to win.”
Dr Patrick Moore, founder member of Greenpeace,writing in the Mail on Sunday, May 2000

Mind, Behavior and Global Health

My Insights: In lecture 6, 2.16.07, we talked about mind and spirituality. I think the most memorable part of the lecture was when we talked about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. This is such a simplistic was to look at emotional and mental needs but I do agree that it is a great overview. It is cheifly suggesting that each individual has a set of needs, and with each step up the pyramid the individual is able to attain more superficial needs. For example the bottom-up approach is...

1. Physiological - eat, breathe, water and sex
2. Safety - security and health
3. Loving/Belonging - family, relationships, intimacy
4. Esteem - self esteem
5. Self-Actualization - morality, creativity, spontaneity

Great Quote: it made me think of how powerful the mind is in relation to one's own reality.
"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." - Middle Eastern quote

Nutrition and Food Security

My Insights: In lecture 5, 2.8.07, our class talked about nutrition, food security and global health - like poverty and hunger, malnutrition, obesity, and agricultural food security.

First we went over some definitions related to food security such as:

• Chronic Hunger - the condition of constant malnourishment or recurrent undernourishment and results in stunted growth. Affecting about 798 million.
• Acute Hunger - severe undernourishment that causes wasting and starvation and is addressed with emergency food and aid. Affecting about 67 million.
• Hidden Hunger - micronutrient and vitamin deficiencies which are often seen in obese and overweight. Affecting about 2 billion.

We talked about how 40 thousand children die each day because of poverty and hunger and most of these deaths happen in India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and China. I thought it was interesting that China's numbers, while daunting, are rapidly improving and a large number of those are moving into a healthier status, which is indicative of political and economic improvements in China.

There's something I'd like to mention. Both developed and developing nations are experiencing problems related to food and health. The developed nations are dealing with over consumption issues like obesity and malnourishment. For the record, obesity doesn't equate to healthy individuals; in fact, many who are obese are not receiving a balance in their intake of recommended daily allowance of both micro and macro nutrients including: vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates and protein for optimum health. The reasons for malnutrition include: over consuming some nutrients and neglecting others all together, or simply eating above the recommended daily allowance; this becomes unsafe. Eating at a level of upper intake limitations is dangerous and terminal and toxic; many people consume foods high in saturated and trans fatty foods, YES, eating too many of these can be toxic especially in terms of people developing diabetes, cancers and heart disease.

On the other hand, developing nations are dealing with issues of food insecurity where many are not even capable of accessing food on a routine basis and are undernourished.

My take, why don't we implement a weight watchers type of system in the public school system which centers around portion sizes and eating a balance of healthy foods that satiate appetite. Teach people from a young age about the importance of not overeating in our developed nation.

Great quote:
"There's enough on this planet for every one's need
but not for every one's GREED."
- Mahatma Gandhi

Graphic reference: Seeing images of poor undernourished children as well as the images of the sad and paralyzed obese.

Interesting Link to Radio Piece on Global Obesity: talking about the rate of obesity in France has doubled in recent years, to 12 percent — a figure approaching U.S. fat stats. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6994649

Presentation Info: Jack and Emma discussed agriculture as a way to improve economic conditions. There was some debate over whether agriculture should be pushed in regions of corruption and war where this seems to be low on the agenda - but we felt that these are typically the regions who need the most help economically and would benefits most from these interventions.

Non-Infectious Diseases

My Insights: In lecture 4, 2.1.07, our class talked about non-infectious diseases globally - like Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke, Diabetes, and Genetics. There was a lot to cover and I found myself really interested in the topics we discussed; it was very thought provoking and I only wish I was this interested in other classes throughout my schooling.

There's something I'd like to mention. There is a unique way to think about the approach of public health professions and that is as damage controllers, in the case where they are in the world treating preventable conditions such as AIDS victims, when the world already has a epidemic on their hands. The second approach to public health is to deliver prevention to those who need it, like the people who are becoming obese, which is a risk factor for developing heart disease, diabetes, and cancers. Most of the PH people I talk to imagine that they will spend their careers preventating the onset of diseases through awareness and education.

But education and awarness simply isn't enough. People don't typically proact - they react. People get haircuts when their hair is too long, they don't get their haircut 2 months before it needs cutting. Many people think of their health the same way... they don't need to exercise - they look attractive, healthy, why worry?

I think as PH professionals we need to change the way insurance programs work, and maybe implement an idea where when people come into the office and they show precursor signs of disease, they should be enrolled in modifiable lifestyle programs. Impossible I'm sure, but it's my two sense anyway.

Great quote:

"The Superior Physician prevents sickness;

The Mediocre Physician attends to impending sickness;

The Inferior Physician treats actual sickness."

- Traditional Chinese Proverb

Graphic reference: Smegma (foreskin) increases cancer in women.

Presentation Info: I even gave a presentation, with my lovely class mateWilson, on cardio vascular disease - and in the process of doing research I found some great information on the National Geographic website plus the video we used in our presentation. http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0702/feature1/