I would like to start off today’s post with a fact that caught my eye from the infographic: There were 220 health workers per 100,000 Americans in 1980, now there is only 158. In order to keep up with public health workforce demand, we need to train three times the number of graduates we have in school today. It seems like the healthcare quality in America will remain away from the global top spots.
Since public healthcare picked up steam in America we have been able to improve on a variety of treatable aliments, one of the biggest being women’s health. In undeveloped countries, women are fifteen times more likely to die during childbirth than the first world. One of the easiest ways to lower the risk is simple education. Raising awareness of healthy reproductive health and contraception can drastically change women’s health statistics.
In addition to dealing with noncommunicable health issues, the reaction time for organizations like the Red Cross and CDC for infectious outbreaks has been cut recently. The current Ebola outbreak in Uganda is a great example. Ebola is one of the most easily spread and deadly viruses to ever surface on this earth. The volunteers and doctors who treat the victims face-to-face are our modern day heroes. Regardless of your opinion on public health: ignorance to viruses like Ebola put the entire world in danger.