The continent of Africa is often associated with disease and a lack of health care. Robert Collins focuses on this issue by selecting authors that discus both the historical, geographical, and economic explanation for the prevalence of disease in Africa as well as discussing external factors, such as colonialism, which have severely impacted health care on the continent. Africa has always struggled with certain diseases, such as malaria and sleeping sickness, but when much of the continent was colonized, new disease, such as small pox and more sexually transmitted diseases were introduced to the African people. Colonization did bring with it a few advances in the medical field like new treatments for old diseases as well as modern medical …show more content…
The continent as a whole still faces many problems relating to health care and epidemics that it did during colonization, even though certain practices and health care systems vary regionally and according to government structure. Collin’s presents the first article, which focuses on medical expertise on the African continent. Its author, Una Maclean, states that the reason Africa is currently facing issues with disease and epidemics is due to the misuse of medical knowledge and poor distribution of resources (Collins 83). An example that shows the misdistribution of resource can be seen when delving into many African countries health budget. Numerous African countries have a low life expectancy in comparison to the rest of the world, which is mostly due to the high levels of infant mortality. Many African children die at a young age because of issues like malnutrition, …show more content…
They first define the three major types of health policies, then they mention factors that influence which health policy is used by a country, and finally health care policies in different African states are discussed. The colonial health model prioritizes social control, having funds to cover administration costs, and generating a surplus of wealth to support trade and production (87). This type of policy focused first on Europeans and then slowly spread to urban elite, neglecting much of the rural African population. A basic health services model works to expand health care in rural and urban areas with an emphasis on preventative medicine (88). The last type of health policy is primary health care and its purpose is to reflect the needs of the community, which often entail promotive, preventative, and rehabilitative care. The two main determinants of health policies are the contemporary African states, which makes decisions based on ideology, and practice constraints such as poverty, declining trade, and a shortage of medical workers (90). There does appear to be a correlation between the type of government a country has and their health policy. For example, capitalist states, such as Kenya and the Ivory Coast, place an emphasis on teaching hospitals and want health care equivalent to international standards (91). These states often have
Before discussing how disease has shaped history and altered cultures, it is important to understand how they themselves have developed and changed throughout history. Disease, in the broadest definition of the word, has been present since the beginning of humanity. Even ...
A true saying is “Colonization often does more damage than contribution.” Colonialism encouraged Africa’s development in some areas, but in many others it severely damaged the natural progress of the continent. If colonialism was never imposed on Africa, Africa’s developments would be significantly different and many of the problems that the continent faces now would not exist today. In conclusion, at first it seems that colonialism has both positive and negative effects, but the truth is it only damages the colonized nation.
While the moral backing for public health in its current state may be sound, what many researchers fail to understand is that the many moral failings of its predecessors that color the legacy of public health internationally and at home. As discussed in the chapter “Colonial Medicine and its Legacies” within the textbook Reimagining Global Health arranged by Paul Farmer, before the conception of global health there was international health which sought to distribute health as a good horizontally across international, political lines. Under the framework of international health, public health workers became agents of a cold war enmeshed in the fiscal, geopolitical, and territorial struggles between two hegemons rather than the holistic value of community health. While international health as a framework has largely been abandoned, much of its rhetoric can be found within our current framework of public health such as the enumeration of certain parts of the world as "1st world", "2nd world",
There are major diseases that affect men and women all over the world today. The country, that I will be talking about is affected daily by many different deadly diseases such as, lower respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, measles, whooping cough, malaria, pneumonia and many more. The residents of Africa are suffering from preventable, treatable, and fatal diseases everyday at a higher rate compared to other developed countries. The World Organization (WHO) projects that over the next ten years the continent will experience the largest increase in death rates from cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and diabetes.
- - -. “The Third and Final Continent.” Interpreter of Maladies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 173-198. Print.
A weak argument can be brought forth as to the good that colonial expansion brought to Africa; education was improved, trade was increased, the infant mortality rate decreased, the infrastructure was improved, and religion and western influence were introduced, these last two are very arguable as to the benefit, but these improvements no matter how large or small will always be overshadowed by the suffering, torture, death, and destruction caused by this colonization.
The imposition of colonialism on Africa drastically reconstructed the continent. All over, European powers attempted to “assimilate” countries into their own, all the while exploiting and victimizing their people, culture, and resources. However, if there was one aspect of colonialism that provided a fertile ground for conflict, it was the unknowingly insidious method of introducing religion, specifically Christianity, into African families. This is particularly exemplified in the novels Things Fall Apart, Houseboy, and Weep Not, Child. Throughout these novels, the assimilation of Christianity within the protagonists’ not only results in a destruction of their sacred and traditional values, but also their well-being and those around them.
Access to health care in Ethiopia has left many people without proper health care and eventual death. Millions of people living in Ethiopia die because of the lack of access to the health care system; improving the access to the healthcare system in Ethiopia can prevent many of the deaths that occur, but doing so will pose a grueling and challenging task. According to Chaya (2012), poor health coverage is of particular concern in rural Ethiopia, where access to any type of modern health institution is limited at best (p. 1). If citizen of Ethiopia had more accessibility of the healthcare system more individuals could be taught how to practice safe health practices. In Ethiopia where HIV, and maternal and infant mortality rates are sky high, more education on the importance of using the healthcare system and makin...
Global health fails to integrate the local viewpoint of the people into their development action plan, and to make development initiative successful, the opinion of the community must be taken into account. Therefore, the local people tend to dispute the western rule that urges development strategies over their community without comprehending the wants of the people. Another major reason for the failure of global health initiative is the absence of health infrastructure in much of the growing world. Due to this fact, the global health encounters a usual obstacle of transferring extensive amounts of resources to people, usually in local and distant geographical locations, with no substantial infrastructure to work through. The community nurses, midwives, or traditional doctors are given inadequate teaching or practice opportunities to allow them to work effectively with local people for a long term success. The global health initiative often tends to spend a little time as required to assure that there is a common vision, not just temporary obligation but a chance to grow and support the skills the community need to perfectly put them in place to
Throughout history, imperialism has led countries to extend their rule over weaker countries and then colonized those countries to expand their own power. Imperialism allows the ruling countries to use the weaker countries for their resources. Colonizing other countries would then lead to growth and a better reputation for the dominating country. There are many examples of imperialism throughout European history. When many European countries “scrambled” for Africa, it seemed as though Africa had no say in anything. During the 19th century, Europe found a way to use Africa for their own growth and power. Using Africa for their resources, the Europeans colonized Africa without a second thought. European imperialism in Africa had a negative impact because of social disarray, cultural loss, and death it caused.
London, England. The.. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine n.d., Session 5: The role of the state. in global health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, England. Ricci J.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.
According to the current status of medical geography, the two major traditions focus on 1) the studies of health services delivery and 2) the studies of disease patterns, including disease ecology. This symbolizes how the relations between people and the environment are closely linked with cultural ecology. Yet, as previously mentioned, both cultural and political ecology define the political ecology of disease. All of these factors interconnect because of the microscopic aspects within an individual’s life. The same factors that affect the health of an individual, affect the probability of them being at risk of being at risk of diseases. In my perspective, the relationships between the political, economic and social characteristics and relations, the environment, need to be confined to capitalism and colonialism. To be more specific, throughout history, both capitalism and colonialism have influenced an immense affect on the societies who are suffering from health disparities and dying from diseases. A great example of how environment, economy, politics and human behavior, but yet capitalism and colonialism have primarily contributed to the development and increase of diseases is through Dr. Mayer’s example of malaria in Trinidad. When the country was in stage of development and transition from agriculture to
The high mortality rate in South Africa has resulted from the poor national healthcare services. Annual reports from WHO shows that millions of African fatalities caused
powerful regimes were formed in Europe and China, since there was flat land bounded by rivers