In this lesson you will learn: © to identify the major health threats to human populations © to identify the causes of the major health threats © to suggest solutions to the major threats to © human health. Improvements in health ‘As a country develops, it is able to promote and improve the general health of its population. Improvements happen for a number of reasons. For example, the population has access to enough food to avoid undernourishment, and to a variety of food that ensures people get all the different nutrients they need. The population will also have access to clean water for drinking and good sanitation systems. These allow people to wash away germs and get rid of waste, which helps prevent the spread of diseases. As they develop, countries are also better able to inform and educate their populations about health issues. They can also provide better health services to prevent and treat illnesses. In these societies there are fewer deaths of babies and young children, less illness and people tend to live longer. Did you know? Exercising for 30 minutes by walking ‘at 32 km/hour uses 75 calories, by running at 9.6 Km/h burns 300 calorie, and by swimming breaststroke burns 367 calories Communicable and contagious diseases Communicable and contagious diseases are those that can be passed from one person to another. This can happen when people are in direct contact or when there is an exchange of bodily fluids, for example through a sneeze or cough. Diseases can also sometimes be spread by insects such as mosquitoes. A Sneezing or coughing into a tissue catches the germs.These diseases are dealt with in three main ways: © prevention of the diseases, for example through immunisation or through the use of such items as mosquito nets or the provision of clean water © treatment of the disease when and where medicines exist © education programmes to inform people about symptoms of the diseases, how they are spread and how they can be treated. A Washing hands regularly is an important part of preventing the spread of disease. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are not infectious and cannot be transmitted between people. They include heart disease, many cancers, asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure. The World Health Organisation (WHO) figures suggest thet NCDs are the world’s biggest killers. They account for 63% of all deaths worldwide ‘and cause many premature deaths. ‘A Choosing « healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of suffering from one of the non-communicable diseases. NCDs are associated with a number of risk factors which are mostly to do with the way people live. The main risks are tobacco use, an unhealthy diet (high in sugar, fats and salt), lack of physical exercise and the harmful use of alcohol. Unfortunately this is a global problem and the countries of the Arabian Gulf are no exception. There has been a dramatic increase in the occurrence of these diseases and they are now the leading cause of death in the GCC countries. Activity Design a poster that informs people of one of the common threats to health and how these can be avoided. a Buleqnem pun yx}D9H Ss