Compared to many other countries and including many important factors, the general health of the people of Latvia is poor. Many issues affect this problem. Latvia was also a country previously under Soviet control. Bordered by Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus, Latvia is a country on the smaller side. The Central Intelligence Agency reports, the population of Latvia is 2,165,165 people in 2014. Much of the younger group of the population get many deadly diseases, and the overall environment of the country affects the how healthy the people are.
As a country with temperate weather, Latvia has mild winters and warmer summers. The climate does not affect the people much, other than that, they enjoy that the weather is a preferable temperature throughout the year compared to other countries’ climates. Even when Latvia was under Soviet control, the government did not pay much attention to the environment of the country. Now, there are complicated water and sewage systems, efforts for decreasing pollution, and hazardous waste disposal plants. Back in 1620, the first water supply device was built in Riga, Latvia’s capital. The water was pumped from an open reservoir, and then ran through a series of pipes and pools to eventually end up in the homes of the richer citizens. In 1863, water from the Daugava River was used for drinking, which lasted about twenty more years, but by the twentieth century, the water quality was no longer acceptable enough for drinking water consumption. The Daugava River was also polluted from different kinds of wastes, from all different places, some wastes even from the bordering countries of Latvia. This conflict called for new water sources to be found in Latvia. New wells were drilled to solve the c...
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...e probability of dying under five is nine deaths, per 1000 population. Many causes of young deaths include: congenital anomalies, birth asphyxia, pneumonia, injuries, and prematurity to name a few. Obesity and not exercising is also a great problem for the Latvian people. The average of the percentage of people overweight is 57.5%, and the obesity percentage is 24.9%.
The average Latvian’s health and the Latvian health system are inadequate to other countries’ standards. Environment is one factor that is playing for the health of these inhabitants, and the diseases, health system, and number of health related jobs play a large role in the future of the citizens of Latvia. Overall, surrounding European countries prove that the Latvian health system and the citizens’ health prove to be lower in standard than other health systems and people of European countries.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are increasingly becoming a major problem of Public Health around the World. The impact of resources and material deprivation among people and populations has resulted in an increase in mortality rate on a planetary scale. Social determinants of health are defined as the personal, social, economic and the environmental conditions which determines the health status of an individual or population (Gardner, 2013). Today’s society is characterized by inequalities in health, education, income and many other factors which as a result is becoming a burden for Public Health around the world. Research studies have shown that the conditions in which people live and work strongly influenced their health. Individuals with high levels of education and fall within the high income bracket turn to have stable jobs, live in the best neighborhood and have access to quality health care system than individuals who have low education and fall with the low income bracket. This paper is to explain different social determinants of health and how they play ...
Humans need water. In a world that is overpopulated, we use a lot of water and other natural resources. Currently, in our world, clean water is getting scarce. Recently, for example, Flint, Michigan, had a water crisis. In early 2016, the water was discovered to be tainted with lead and other toxins. Long before that, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Governor Rick Snyder along with his council, knew about the lead, but to save money for the city of Flint in early 2014 Snyder had changed the city’s water source to the Flint River which had corroded pipes, causing people of all ages to be sick from the high amounts of lead
The focus of public health has been shifted according to events and particularly a community making it hard to define. However this makes it crucial to determine the situation under the recent public health, such as health needs assessment, in order for action to be taken with the economic situation, epidemiological transitions related with stigma, demographic status, health literacy and life course approach, and facilitating day-to-day activities (Wilson and Mabhala, 2013).
Richard G. Wilkinson, M. G. (2003). The Social Determinants of Health: The Solid Facts. Denmark: World Health Organization.
In a worldwide comparison of health status we can observe that, despite the fact that the USA leads the ranking on health expenditure, this do not translate into a better health for the US population. In fact, when comparing health indicators, not only US does not rank among the best, but for most all of the important health indicators measured (life expectance, child mortality, as examples) the US is bellow the average of those indicator among the most affluent industrialized nations.
National health systems are assessed by the extent to which expenditure and actions in public health and medical care contributes to the crucial social goals of improving health, increasing access to quality healthcare, reducing health disparities, protecting citizens from penury due to medical e...
The main approach of the social determinant of health is how the society provides the economic and social resources to their population in order to improve public policies and health. The social determinant of health has introduced in the mid of 19th century in which the living conditions of the society were the main factors of health (Engels, 1845/1947; Virchow, 1848/1985).After this research there was a number of studies that have proved that the people who are exposed to their social and physical conditions in their homes, workplaces and communities are more significant towards their health than their living conditions such as the usage of tobacco or too much intake of alcohol, eating fruits or vegetables and daily
Lastly I compared the English and The Ethiopian health system in Finnish health care system. I discuss these three countries, health care systems similarities and differences. Also discusses role that emerged through my thoughts.
Not only is it the individuals lifestyle that contributes to their overall health, but it is also things such as their environment that they live and the circumstances they live in (World Health Organization).These are called determinants. When discussing environment pertaining to health, we must take into consideration that this also means the social, economic, physical environment. As stated by Levins and Lopez, “Genes may influence how we relate to our environments, while society can determine the environments that we face..” (p. 270) indiciating that it is not only one factor that determines our health, but many. At a York University Conference held in Toronto in 2002, 14 different social determinants of health were using ranging from Aboriginal status to unemployment, to food insecurity (Mikkonen, Raphael, 2010). There are also factors such as income and social factors, education, genetics, social support networks, health services and even gender that are determinants of health. Something we individuals need to remember is that we cannot blame people for having bad health when some of the determining factors are completely out of their control. I feel that a person 's physical environment are one of the most important determinants of health due to the damage it can do to one if they have a poor environment surrounding them. Where an individual is born and raised is not a choice that people get to
This also discusses health in relation to social institutions, for example family, employment and school. However, health can be defined in a number of ways, such as negative and positive. The negative is where health is perceived to be the absence of disease or abnormalities in the body. This is similar to the positive, where health focuses on the presence of certain attributes, rather than the absence of them. This is different from the World Health Organisation (WHO 2008) where health requires a person to be completely physically, mentally and socially well, but not just in the absence of disease and illness.
According to the World Health Organisation health is “A state of well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (WHO,1946)
Clean and safe drinking water resources are becoming scarce as the population grows. The world is facing many problems, but the most important thing needed to survive, is water. Water is getting low in many countries, therefore residents are suffering the misfortune of not having the reliable source of clean water. Today many countries are having water shortages meaning rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater are not enough to rely on for supplying water demands. For example, California is facing a drastic water shortage, the natural water resources are not enough to fulfill their water demands.
The. Drinking Water: A History. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2012. Print. The.
The primary aspect of water slovenliness in Lebanon is its pollution, which is a recent problem. Prior to the industrial revolution, people adapted to the primitive human lifestyle of cooperating with nature. However, the rise of the industry and capitalism in the world lead to the globalization of the idea of prioritizing material over nature which in turn resulted in exhausting and thus polluting nature’s
The history of water purification started off in ancient Greek in the 2000B.C. people at the time used to boil water in order to purify it. There were also filtration and straining methods which helped to reduce visible particles and turbidity in water. However, due to the lack of knowledge in the chemical area, almost no process was taken to remove the harmful chemical contaminants. In fact, the purpose of water purification at that time was purely to make it smell and taste better. They believed if the water taste good to the mouth, it must be safe, clean and healthy. Therefore the Gr...