ANT 1325: Introduction to Global Health - Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical milestones, disease metrics, epidemiology principles, demographic transitions, and health disparities for ANT 1325: Introduction to Global Health.

Individual Perspective

Focuses on diagnosis (complaint, history, exam, labs) and treatment derived from biomedical understanding of etiology.

Population Perspective

Focuses on 'community diagnosis' (surveillance, surveys, analytic studies) and intervention via the healthcare system and policy.

International Health

Emphasizes the improvement of health across boundaries between nations, often stressing differences between countries (e.g., 'the others', medical missionary work).

Globalization

Process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments of different nations, driven by economic interaction and communication.

Planetary Health

Asks whether human health can improve without damaging the ecological systems that make health possible.

First International Sanitary Conference (1851)

Gathering of European states to coordinate responses to cholera, plague, and yellow fever while protecting commerce.

World Health Organization (WHO)

United Nations' specialized agency for health, ratified in 1948. Sets technical standards for 194 Member States without global enforcement power.

Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978)

Framed health as a fundamental human right ('Health for All'), emphasizing universal access to primary healthcare.

Ottawa Charter (1986)

Expanded attention to health promotion, policy, and environments. Identified prerequisites for health (peace, shelter, education, equity).

Healthy People (1990)

Introduced ambitious, measurable 10-year objectives for improving health and well-being in the US, emphasizing data accountability.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Global goals created in 2000 that heavily focused on improving health and reducing poverty primarily in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

17 goals launched in 2015 designed as universal goals for all countries; health is an outcome of and a driver for every goal (Goal 3 is the explicit health goal).

Infant Mortality Rate

Number of deaths of infants under age 1 per 1,000 live births in a given year.

Child Mortality Rate (Under-5)

Probability that a newborn baby will die before reaching age 5, expressed as a number per 1,000 live births.

Neonatal Mortality Ratio

Number of deaths of infants under 28 days of age per 1,000 live births in a given year.

Maternal Mortality Ratio

Number of women who die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth complications per 100,000 live births in a given year.

Life Expectancy

Average number of years a newborn could expect to live if current mortality trends were to continue for the rest of the newborn's life.

Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)

Number of years a person of a given age can expect to live in good health, accounting for mortality and disability.

Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL)

Total number of years lost through failure of individuals to live their expected number of years (e.g., dying at 30 when life expectancy is 75 = 45 PYLL).

Days of Healthy Life Lost (DHLL)

Total days of healthy life lost due to premature death as well as temporary disability before death.

Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)

The sum of Years of Life Lost (YLL) to premature death and Years Lived with Disability (YLD).

Vital Registration Systems

Systems that record births, deaths, and causes of death; crucial for having quality demographic data on a population.

World Bank Country Income Groups

Classification based on gross national income per capita: Low-income, Lower-middle income, Upper-middle income, High-income.

Epidemiology

The field that studies the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations.

Distribution

How the occurrence of diseases and other health outcomes varies in populations, with some subgroups more frequently affected than others.

Determinant

A collective or individual risk factor that is causally related to a health condition, outcome, or defined characteristic.

Association

A relationship where a change in the frequency of one variable is associated with a change in the frequency of another. Correlation does not imply causation.

Causation

When a constellation of components acts in concert to make a difference (produces a health effect).

Descriptive Epidemiology

Classifies the occurrence of disease according to Person (who), Place (where), and Time (when).

Endemic Disease

Disease consistently present in a specific population or region.

Epidemic Disease

A sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in a population.

Pandemic Disease

An epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents.

Communicable Diseases

Illnesses caused by an infectious agent (pathogen) that spreads directly or indirectly.

Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)

Illnesses not spread by an infectious agent (e.g., cardiovascular disease, diabetes).

Incidence

Provides an estimate of probability or risk that a person selected at random develops a disease during a specified time period (new cases).

Prevalence

The total number of existing cases of a disease or health condition in a population at a specific time.

Ratio

The value obtained by dividing one quantity by another.

Proportion

A type of ratio in which the numerator is part of the denominator (often a percentage).

Rate

A type of ratio where the denominator involves a measure of time.

Attack Rate

The proportion of the population that develops illness during an outbreak.

Case-Fatality Rate

The number of deaths due to a disease that occur among persons who are afflicted with that disease.

Demographic Transition

Model of change in birth and death rates. Moves from high birth/death rates to low birth/death rates over multiple stages.

Demographic Transition: Stage 1

'Pre-modern' stage with high birth rates and high death rates (stable or slow increase).

Demographic Transition: Stage 2

Death rates decline rapidly while birth rates remain high, leading to rapid population increase.

Demographic Transition: Stage 3

'Mature Industrial' stage where birth rates decline and population growth begins to slow down.

Demographic Transition: Stage 4

'Post-Industrial' stage with low birth and death rates, leading to stabilization in population growth and an older population.

Epidemiologic Transition

Theory describing a general reduction in infectious diseases/nutritional deficiencies and an increase in chronic degenerative disorders.

Epidemiologic Transition Stages

1: Pestilence and Famine, 2: Receding Pandemics, 3: Degenerative and Man-Made Diseases, 4: Delayed Degenerative Diseases and Emerging Infections.

Health Disparities

A type of difference in health that is closely linked with social or economic disadvantage.

Health Equity

The absence of unfair and avoidable or remediable differences in health among population groups defined socially, economically, demographically, or geographically.