Learning

Health Trends, Issues and

Packet
4 Concerns (Global Level)

In this lesson, you will be informed about the health trends, issues, and concerns in a global level.
You will learn that there are certain laws that needs to be taken seriously.

On Your Mark

Directions: Look for 10 global health issues and concerns that the World Health Organization and
member-nations are facing. Discuss the implications of the different global health issues and concerns to
people across nations.

M A L A R I A I D E N T
W A T E R S A F E T Y R
A Q S E S A E S I D N E
H T L A E H S N E M O W
M E N T A L H E A L T H
Z X C N M K I L O P O E
A S D P A O V T R D N U
E N V I R O N M E N T G
E R D N O I T I R T U N
E S T Y R R W E T Y B E
S T O W T O B A C C O D

Get Set

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

1. Explain the different initiatives with regards to health trends, issues, and concerns in a global level.
2. Realize the importance the different health initiatives learned.
3. Create a photo essay that will inform other people about the sustainable development goals.
 Go and Learn

GLOBAL HEALTH
This term rose in popularity along with the rise of globalization. Both terms improved public awareness or
vulnerabilities and shared responsibilities among people for the different injustices in the world.

GLOBAL HEALTH INITIATIVES

These are programs set in motion by the United Nations through the World Health Organization and in
partnership with the World Bank which target specific health problems including but not limited to
emerging and re-emerging diseases, climate change, environmental sanitation, mental health, tobacco
regulation, and alcohol use.

- 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

- WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
- Global Initiative for Mental Health
- Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Use of Alcohol
- Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization

2030 Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs)
SDGs are set and adopted by countries
around the world on the 25th of September
in 2015. The main objectives are to end
poverty, protect the planet, and ensure
prosperity for all members of humankind.

The following are some of the sustainable development goals that are directly related to health issues:

Goal: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Some Facts:
- 836 million people still live in extreme poverty.
- About one in five persons in developing regions lives on less than $1.25
or 70 Philippine pesos per day.
- The overwhelming majority of people living on less than $1.25 or about
70 Philippine pesos a day belong to two regions: Southern Asia and sub-
Saharan Africa.
- High poverty rates are often found in small, fragile, and conflict-affected countries.
- One in four children under age five in the world has inadequate height for his or her age.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty
Goal: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and
promote sustainable agriculture.

Some Facts:
- Globally, one in nine people in the world today (795 million) is
undernourished.
- Most the world’s hungry people live in developing countries,
where 12.9% of the population is undernourished.
- The percentage in Southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in
Western Asia it has increased slightly.
- Southern Asia faces greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished people. In
sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the 2014-2016 period indicate a rate of undernourished of
almost 23%.
- Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under 5 – 3.1 million children each
year.
- One of every four children in the world suffered from stunted growth. In developing countries,
the proportion can rise to one in three.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/

Goal: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages.

Some Facts:
- Since 2000, measles vaccines have averted nearly 15.6 million deaths.
- Children born into poverty are almost twice as likely to die before the age
of five as those from wealthier families.
- Maternal mortality has fallen by almost 50% since 1990.
- More women are now receiving antenatal care. In developing regions,
antenatal care increased from 65% in 1990 to 83% in 2012.
- At the end of 2014, there were 13.6 million people accessing antiretroviral therapy.
- HIV is the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide.
- As of 2013, 2.1 million adolescents were living with HIV.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/

Goal: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.

Some Facts:
- 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water
sources since 1990, but 633 million people are still without.
- Between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of the global population
using an improved drinking water source has increased from 76%
to 91%.
- More than 80% of wastewater resulting from human activities is
discharged into rivers or sea without any pollution removal.
 - Each day, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal
diseases.
- Approximately 70% of all water abstracted from rivers, lakes, and aquifers is used for irrigation.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/

Goal: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Some Facts:
- Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today.
- By 2030, almost 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas.
- 95% of urban expansion in the next decades will take place in developing
world.
- 828 million people live in slums today and the number keeps rising.
- Rapid urbanization is exerting pressure on freshwater supplies, sewage,
the living environment, and public health.
- But the high density of cities can bring efficiency gains and technological innovation while
reducing resource and energy consumption.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities

Goal: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Some Facts:
- Each year, an estimated one-third of all food produced –
equivalent to 1.3 billion tons worth around $1 trillion – ends up
rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers or spoiling due to
poor transportation and harvesting practices.
- Less than 3% of the world’s water is fresh (drinkable), of which
2.5% is frozen in the Antarctica, Arctic, and glaciers. Humanity
must therefore rely on 0.5% for all man’s ecosystems and freshwater needs.
- Despite technological advances that have promoted energy efficiency gains, energy use in OECD
countries will continue to grow another 35% by 2020. Commercial and residential energy use is
the second most rapidly growing area of global energy use after transport.
- 2 billion people globally are overweight or obese.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/

Goal: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources.

Some Facts:
- Oceans cover three quarters of Earth’s surface, contain 97% of Earth’s
water, and represent 99% of the living space on the planet by volume.
- Globally, the market value of marine and coastal resources and industries
is estimated at 3$ trillion per year or about 5% of global GDP.
- Oceans serves as the world’s largest source of protein, with more than 3
billion people depending on the oceans as their primary source of protein.
 - As much as 40% of the world oceans are heavily affected by human activities, including pollution,
depleted fisheries, and loss of coastal habitats.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/

Goal: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse

land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.

Some Facts:
- Around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood.
This includes some 70 million indigenous people.
- As of 2008, land degradation affected 1.5 billion people globally.
- Due to drought and desertification each year 12 million hectares
are lost (23 hectares per minute), where 20 million tons of grain
could have been grown.
- Of over 80,000 tree species, less than 1% have been studied for potential use.
- As many as 80% of people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional plant-
based medicines for basic to provide their basic healthcare.
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/biodiversity

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

World Health Organization FCTC is the world’s first modern-day public health treaty about the effects of
tobacco consumption. This aims to set universal standards and limit in the use of tobacco in all forms all
throughout the world.

Proposed Specific Steps to Solve Tobacco-related Problems:

- Adopt tax and price measures to reduce tobacco consumption.
- Ban tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.
- Create smoke-free work and public spaces.
- Put prominent health warnings on tobacco packages.

Global Initiative for Mental Health

The Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 is the result of extensive research and
consultations by stakeholders, member-nations, academic, and non-government centers across the globe.

It basically addresses the following:

- To fight and alleviate negative trends in mental health.
- To improve and make mental health services and care accessible.
- To prevent abuse of rights and unjust treatment against people with mental problems, disorders,
and disabilities which are still prevalent around the world.

Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Use of Alcohol

It recognizes the close ties between the harmful use of alcohol and the socio-economic development of a
nation. Likewise, this strategy builds and supports other global health initiatives like the global strategy
for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations
It is a global strategy which aims to strengthen children’s immunization programs and introduce new
generation of licensed vaccines into use in developing countries across the globe.

Test Yourself

Activity 1. Directions: Fill in the Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences of the following:

WHO Framework Global Strategy to

Convention on Reduce the Harmful
Tobacco Control Use of Alcohol

Activity 2. Direction: Choose one from the Sustainable Development Goals and create a photo essay
that will discuss your chosen SDG.

REFERENCES:

DepEd (2017). Learning Module. Health 10

Cipriano, E., Pineda-Limos, A., Solis, R., Fabella, M., Limos, RF., & Delos Reyes, GG. (2015) The 21st
century MAPEH in action. Rex Bookstore