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Essay / My Perspective on Improving the Health Care System
This course on global health has had a significant impact on my perspective on the health care system and international health. One of the biggest contributors to this has been the visitors we have received. Thanks to all the visitors, I was able to understand what health looks like in different cultures, with ZoaTraore representing Africa, Dr. Muhammad Javaid representing Pakistan, and Special Agent Jeff Howard representing a Native American reservation. In the United States, we have a system that regulates health care, finances it, provides health and clinical services, and advocates that professionals stay current with developments in technology and the drugs we produce. On the other hand, we forget what health looks like in other societies. Many do not have simple resources, and some even lack health professionals to provide them with services. Following Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the UNMC Biocontainment Unit, I took on my own task: investigating Ebola research in developing countries where it is an epidemic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayI met Paul Farmer, a doctor and anthropologist, his views on Ebola were interesting “Nurses and doctors are rare in the most heavily affected areas of the region. affected by Ebola. Even before the current crisis killed many health workers in Liberia, there were fewer than fifty doctors working in the public health system in a country of more than four million people, most of whom live far from the capital . This represents one doctor per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 240 per 100,000 in the United States or 670 in Cuba” (Farmer, 2014). In addition to not having enough doctors and nurses, many developing countries do not have the resources to help patients or save lives. This is the same perspective that ZoaTraoré shared when talking about his research in his country on malaria. This opportunity to host speakers and share their knowledge pushed me to do more research not only on health issues found in the United States but around the world. After my group's presentation on infant mortality, I was terrified by the things I discovered. We talked a lot about health disparities in class, from Australia to Africa and even the United States, but this data didn't seem realistic. In African countries, the main causes of high infant mortality rates are "complications of premature birth, pneumonia, birth asphyxia, diarrhea and malaria." About 45% of all child deaths are linked to malnutrition” According to the World Health Organization (2014). But when you compare this to the causes of infant mortality rates in the United States among African American women, the picture is very different. The CDC shares that “premature or premature birth is the most common cause of infant mortality, accounting for more than a third of all infant deaths in the first year of life. The infant mortality rate for black infants is 2.4 times higher than that for white infants, primarily due to premature births” (2015). The United States has one of the worst infant mortality rates in developed countries and it is sad to see such data. Why is premature birth the biggest problem facing African American women? These explanations vary, including “late prenatal care..