Global Health Issues: Key Terms

APA1122

Health

a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Public Health

The science and art of preventing disease; prolonging life; and promoting physical health and mental health and efficiency through organized community efforts toward a sanitary environment

Global Health

An area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide

First World

Industrialized, capitalist countries that fall within Western European and US sphere of influence

Global North

Synonym for First World

Second World

Those within the former Soviet Union’s sphere of influence (e.g., Poland, Cuba); have planned economies ~ term out of use since the end of the Cold War. Term is no longer used.

Third World

Low UN development index (parts of Africa, Latin America, and Asia), have developing economies; term disliked by many

Fourth World

Lack industrial infrastructure, poorest Third World nations

Two-Thirds World

Indicates that the majority of countries in the world are Third World countries

Global South

Synonym for two thirds world, fourth world, third world.

Developed and Developing Countries

Not a precise term – controversial, developed = relatively high income per capita, developing = relatively low income)

Low Income

$995 or less

Lower-Middle Income

$996 to $3,896

Upper Middle Income

$3,896 to $12,055

High Income

$12,056 or above

Colonialsim

A practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another…The practice of colonialism usually involved the transfer of population to a new territory, where the arrivals lived as permanent settlers while maintaining political allegiance to their country of origin

Determinants of health

Range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that determine the health status of individuals or populations

Social Determinants of Health

Specific group of social and economic factors within the broader determinants of health. These relate to an individual's place in society, such as income, education or employment. Experiences of discrimination, racism and historical trauma are important social determinants of health for certain groups

Social Gradient

describes the phenomenon whereby people who are less advantaged in terms of socioeconomic position have worse health (and shorter lives) than those who are more advantag

Infant Mortality rate

Deaths of infants per 1000

Life expectancy at birth

Average number of years a newborn baby can live if current mortality trends continue for the rest of the newborn’s life

Maternal mortality rate

Number of women who die per 100,000

Neonatal Mortality rate

Deaths of infants under 28 days of age per 1000

Under-5 mortality rate

Probability that a newborn will die before reaching age 5 per 1000

Morbidity

Sickness or any departure, subjective or objective, from a psychological or physiological state of well-being.

Mortality

Death

Prevalence

Number of people suffering from a certain health condition over a specified time period

Incidence

The rate at which new cases of a disease occur in a population

H.A.L.E.

health-adjusted life expectancy: number of years a person of a given age can expect to live in good health, taking account of mortality and disability. Calculated by weighting the number of years of ill health according to severity, subtracted from the overall life expectancy. Not a health-gap measure.

D.A.L.Y.

Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) – the sum of years lost due to premature death and years lived with disability (YLDs). Calculated by weighting the number of years of ill health according to severity, subtracted from the overall life expectancy. Calculated by subtracting the age at which one dies and one’s life expectancy at that age, Health-gap measure.

Risk Factor

An aspect or personal behaviour or lifestyle, an environmental exposure, or an inborn or inherited characteristic, that, on the basis of epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with health-related conditions considered important to prevent

Demographic Divide

Highest-income countries have low fertility, declining populations, and aging populations

Lowest-income countries have high- fertility, although it is slowly declining

Epidemiological Transition

How countries shift from high to low mortality

Demographic Transition

Shift in pattern of high fertility and high mortality (third world) to low fertility and low mortality (first world), with population growth in between. Due to decline in mortality with improved hygiene and nutrition, followed by decline in fertility

NGO (Non-governmental organization)

typically mission-driven advocacy or service orgs in the nonprofit sector

Health sector expenditure

Total health expenditure as a share of GDP varies substantially across countries

Direct Costs

the costs associated with medical resource utilization.

Indirect Costs

Expenses incurred from the cessation or reduction of work productivity as a result of the morbidity and mortality associated with a given disease.

Noncommunicable Diseases

cannot be spread by an infectious agent, they last a long time, and they are often disabling and lead to death if not treated appropriately.

Ischemic Heart Disease

A disturbance of the heart function due to inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart muscle

Communicable Disease

synonymous with infectious disease; can be transmitted animal- animal, animal-human, or human-human; includes infectious and parasitic diseases

Case

an individual with a particular disease

Case Fatality Rate

the proportion of persons with a particular condition (cases) who die from that condition

Control (disease control)

reducing the incidence and prevalence of a disease to an acceptable
level – what acceptable means might vary by location.

Elimination (of disease)

reducing the incidence of a disease in a specific area to zero

Emerging Infectious Disease

a newly discovered disease

Eradication of a disease

termination of all cases of a disease and its transmission globally

Parasite

an organism that lives in or on another organism and takes its nourishment from that
organism

Reemerging Infectious Disease

an existing disease that has increased in incidence, spread to new place, or has taken on new forms

Outbreak

noticeable, often small, increase over the expected number of cases of a disease in a
small geographic area

Epidemic

outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time. If it occurs over a large enough geographic area, it becomes a pandemic

Pandemic

the spread of a new disease over multiple countries or worldwide (WHO, 2020)

Perinatal

First week of life

Neonatal

First month of life

Infant

First year of life

Under-5

First 5 years of life, age 0-4