Global Health the World Is an Increasingly

Global Health

The world is an increasingly shrinking place. Globalization has interconnected countries through trade and technology (De Cock, Simone, Davison, Slutsker, 2010). Today's economic turmoil is a great example of how is essentially one big web: one country's economic downturn has a domino effect on others. Globalization has other consequences, such as the migration of people from areas of low economic development to those of growing economies. Also with the rise of powerful multinational corporations with global interests, they need a mobile international workforce. Essentially, the world is becoming one big community. In respect to global health this has certain implications. Events such as an epidemic in Ghana or an outbreak of tuberculosis in China are no longer isolated events. What happens in one corner in the world has the capability of being felt all over. If there is war and disease, this creates refugee populations that can unbalance other nations through their influx and potentially spread disease. Just as one economy faltering causing a domino effect, so does a health crisis (De Cock, Simone, Davison, Slutsker, 2010). This makes public health organizations such as WHO (World Health Organization) essential. WHO helps the impoverished all over the world by looking at the "big picture" by helping underdeveloped countries create an effective healthcare system and directly providing care in cases of emergencies.

The World Health Organization is a special agency within the United Nations that is exclusively focused on public health. The organization was established on April 7, 1948. It has played a monumental role in eradicating smallpox and is currently trying to contain the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV / AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. The organization also promotes women's health, nutrition, substance abuse prevention, and other programs aimed at helping the overall health of the international community (Requejo, Merialdi, Merzagora, Aureli, Bustreo, 2010).

One of the major ways WHO helps those in need is by trying to eradicate disease. Currently, there are working on measles and rubella. Their methodology consists on working with laboratories around the world, monitoring the spread of these diseases and increasing the efficiency of the laboratories in developing countries. "The measles and rubella proficiency testing is considered to be a major achievement for the WHO measles and rubella program. A number of measures have been implemented to ensure that all laboratories, regardless of resources, are able to perform consistently at high standards" (Stambos et al., 2011). Stambos et al. describes how the WHO provides a laboratory manual, in-depth training workshops, yearly proficiency testing, the use of valid assays, and the implementation of an annual accreditation program. The WHO needs to effectively use its resources to impact the most people. By training scientists around the world to a higher standard it is effectively helping millions of needy sick people.