Introduction
Every year, politicians are paying more attention to issues related to the health system. The planet is constantly threatened by various diseases such as, for instance, Ebola of COVID-19 that spread quickly and uncontrollably. Another example is climate change that “has become increasingly relevant to public health as its various impacts have been identified and researched” (Brown, 2017, p. 196). In these situations, leaders need to have a clear plan and work together to prevent catastrophic consequences. The purpose of this paper is to consider what policies world leaders pursue in the area of healthcare.
General perspective
Health issues are the subject of a socio-political struggle for human rights. Health policies are the first and most important element of a set of measures to protect public health. There is not a single political party in the world whose program would not make demands on health issues. Therefore, the justification of the health policy and the strategic directions of its further development is the most important component of healthcare professionals. Besides, “global challenges require collective action solutions that need to be efficient and equitable” (Clinton & Sridhar, 2017, p.10).
One of the most important actions of the politicians is responding to calls for strengthening health systems through the development of primary health care. It is one of the means of improving the health of the entire population. For instance, “the U.S. government (U.S.) has supported global health security work for more than two decades and is the single largest donor to such efforts” (“The U.S. government and global health security,” 2019, para. 2).
First of all, health coverage has to be accessible to everyone. Secondly, it is necessary to integrate health issues into all government policies. Finally, there should be a more inclusive approach to strategic management in the health sector. It is also to manage and coordinate the work of the health sector in all its diversity. The government should not reduce activities to the administrative planning measures related exclusively to the public sector. These steps will allow creating a wider view on healthcare and thus provide people with a variety of medical services of better quality.
Quiz results
During the passage of the quiz created by the Kaiser Family Foundation, several interesting facts emerged. First of all, it turned out that the United States spends less than 1% of the budget on global health issues. Undoubtedly, proper budget allocation is a complex and important issue, but at the moment, health is one of the most important areas to spend money on. Mukherjee (2018) states that “governments should formulate national policies and plans of action to launch and sustain primary health care as part of a comprehensive national health system” (p. 21).
However, even the amounts allocated are significant for the world. For example, one of the positive trends confirmed by the quiz is that the United States allocates most of its funds for the treatment of HIV and AIDS.
An interesting fact is that the United States spends most of its global health funds on Africa. This position is logical and understandable since there really are many unresolved health problems there. It is also unusual that the United States implements global health programs in more than 60 countries. Knowing this, other countries can take an example from America and join forces to positively influence global health systems. Thus, the quiz is a good reason to think about the future of global health and the need for a careful attitude of politicians to this issue.
References
Brown, L. D. (2017). Foundations for global health practice. Wiley.
Clinton, C., & Sridhar, D. (2017). Governing global health: who runs the world and why? Oxford University Press.
Mukherjee, J. S. (2018). An introduction to global health delivery: practice, equity, human rights. Oxford University Press.
The U.S. government and global health security. (2019). Web.