Global Health midterm

Biosocial Perspective / Approach

A way of looking at health that considers both the biological details of a disease and the social, economic, and political environment that caused it.

Equity

A system where people get the specific resources and care they need based on their situation, ensuring true fairness rather than just giving everyone the exact same thing.

Health / Medical Tourism

The practice of traveling to a different country to get medical care, surgeries, or dental treatments because it is cheaper or better.

Health Disparities / Inequities

Differences in health and healthcare quality between groups of people, often caused by their social standing, wealth, or where they live.

Informal Worker

A worker who does not have a formal contract, regular salary, job security, or benefits like paid sick leave and health insurance.

Intervention

A planned program or initiative in global health that attempts to solve a specific health problem affecting an entire population based on its inferred causes.

Life Expectancy

The number of years a person is expected to live based on their health conditions, environment, and social status.

DALYs

Disability-adjusted life years. Measures how many productive years of someone's life are lost to illness.

Population

A whole group of people living in a specific area; main focus of global health studies rather than individual people.

Plague

A fast-spreading sickness that caused major pandemics in history and destroyed entire civilizations.

Colonialism

A system where a powerful nation takes control of other lands and peoples, using military force and often disease control to maintain power.

Columbian Exchange

The massive movement of goods, plants, animals, human populations, and deadly diseases across the Atlantic Ocean after Columbus reached the Americas.

Pathogens

Tiny living things, like bacteria or viruses, that enter the body and cause diseases.

Virgin Soil Conditions

A situation where a disease enters a population of people who have never been exposed to it before, leaving them with no natural defense.

"White Man's Grave"

A historical label given to West Africa in the 19th century because many European settlers and explorers died there from unfamiliar tropical diseases.

Designated Driver

A concept promoted to reduce drunk driving, where one person in a social group agrees not to drink alcohol so they can safely drive the others home.

Endemic

A disease that has become permanently established and regularly found within a specific population or area.

Germ Theory of Disease

The scientific understanding that illnesses are caused by tiny microscopic organisms, like bacteria and viruses, passing from person to person.

"Iron Cage"

A phrase used to describe how strict rules, rigid procedures, and hierarchies can trap well-meaning workers so they cannot change plans to fit a local situation.

Medicalization

The process where a medical or clinical label is given to a human behavior or condition previously considered normal, defining it as an illness.

Miasma

A historical explanation for illness which blamed diseases on contaminated air rising from stagnant water or swamps.

Rationality

A modern form of power and authority that relies on strict predictability, calculations, rules, and established organizational systems.

Social Construction of Reality

A sociology theory stating people build their view of the world—including health and illness—through the specific language and words they use.

Structural Violence

Harm or disadvantage caused to people by the way society is organized, such as unfair laws, unequal access to education, or limited jobs.

Unintended Consequences

Results produced by a purposeful action or intervention that no one expected, which can sometimes help but often cause new, unforeseen problems.

"Benevolent Assimilation"

A historical term used by colonial rulers to claim that invading and occupying another country was a kind act done in the best interest of the local people.

Cholera

A severe disease that causes heavy sickness and spreads when people drink or come into contact with water contaminated by human waste.

Yellow fever and malaria

Both diseases are spread by mosquitos.

Plague (Transmission and Impact)

Spread by fleas carried by rodents; redistributed power in Europe due to massive fatalities creating worker shortages and inexpensive land.

Smallpox

The greatest success story in modern medical history; eradicated between 1968-1980 through US/USSR collaboration on vaccine distribution.

Missionary Medicine

Healthcare delivered by religious groups as part of an effort to convert local populations to their religion alongside providing medical treatment.

Quinine

A landmark medicine discovered through indigenous knowledge used to successfully treat malaria, protecting Europeans and allowing colonization.

Vector

A living organism, such as a mosquito, that carries a disease-causing virus or bacteria from an infected host to a person.

Appropriate Health Technology

Low-cost, affordable, and sustainable tools utilizing local materials and skills to improve community well-being (e.g., bicycle ambulances, barefoot doctors).

Asymptomatic Carrier

An infected person who shows absolutely no physical signs or symptoms of a disease, but can still pass the active pathogen to others.

Quarantine

The separation and restriction of movement of individuals exposed to or carrying a dangerous contagious disease to prevent community spread.

Genetic Sequencing

An advanced scientific method used to look at the DNA of a disease to prove exactly where it came from.

GOBI

A specific example of a Selective Health Care framework designed to implement measurable, cost-effective interventions for target populations.

Government Agencies (CDC vs. USAID)

State-funded institutions driving public health; CDC focuses on medical science/surveillance, while USAID handles international development and foreign aid.

"Intelligent Motherhood"

A historical term used by 20th-century Western medical missionaries to describe campaigns reshaping traditional maternal care along Western biomedical lines.

Medical Elitism

A top-down healthcare strategy where medical campaigns are strictly imposed by Western organizations without consulting local providers.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Non-profit, citizen-based groups operating independently of governments to provide health services, funding, and aid worldwide.

Philippine-American War (1899-1902)

A U.S. military conflict that created disrupted conditions allowing cholera epidemics to spread.

Philanthropic Foundations

Private organizations that donate wealth from an endowment to fund targeted health interventions and scientific research (e.g., Gates Foundation).

Population-Level Interventions

Public health initiatives or policies targeting entire groups or communities rather than individuals (e.g., public service announcements, vaccination policies).

Primary Health Care (Alma-Ata Approach)

A broad healthcare approach focusing on 'Health for All' through prevention, local community cooperation, and social and economic development.

Selective Health Care (Bellagio Approach)

A healthcare approach driven by cost-benefit analysis focusing on specific, high-impact interventions that save the most lives per dollar spent.

Spanish-American War (1898)

A war bringing U.S. troops to Cuba, where they suffered massive casualties from yellow fever, sparking urgent scientific investigation.

Structural Adjustment Policies

Rigid economic conditions created by the World Bank and IMF requiring debt-crisis countries to restructure economies for financial bailouts.

Privatization

A policy requiring governments to transfer public assets and systems over to private ownership and market forces.

Austerity Policies

Strict economic policies forcing governments to aggressively reduce public spending, specifically targeting social welfare and healthcare infrastructure.

User Fees

Out-of-pocket charges requiring citizens to pay directly for medical services, treating healthcare as a market commodity rather than a human right.

Marshall Plan

Grants, food, machinery, fuel. Open to all; the Soviet Union refused (the Marshall plan wanted to end communism)

Molotov Plan

Trade agreements: raw materials exchange; forced nationalization to serve central Soviet Planning