Introduction “Health is wealth”…this line continuously rings the ears of people in the society especially in terns of taking care of their lives. People today get preoccupied with too many things. Work, recreational activities, school and other more things usually occupy the hours of each individual’s life. Nonetheless, the people’s health is one of the most important concerns in today’s society. Concerning the present situations of the society in facing the challenges of a technology-driven life, everyday activities performed by human is usually accompanied by stress, which in turn brings many physical illnesses.
As technology develops, stress too alleviates. The major concern in this paper is the future situation of health care depending on the developments and advancements of both medical and social health. UNLIKE rice or flour, a relief worker cannot dish out health. It does not come in a bag because it is not a commodity but a condition. “Health,” defines WHO (World Health Organization), “is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being” (World Health Journal, 2004, p 21).
A modest house may be built using boards, nails, and corrugated iron, but the different parts are often supported by four corner posts. Similarly, health is shaped by numerous influences, but all are related to four “corner” influences. They are (1) behavior, (2) environment, (3) medical care, and (4) biological makeup. Just as a person can strengthen his house by upgrading the quality of the posts, so can he better his health by improving the quality of these influential factors.
As the world faces the numerous developments in medical processes and enhanced systems in health care, which also includes several alternative health care methods, people of the present generation face a lot of major changes when it comes to receiving ample health care services from both the government and private health care providers. First things to consider though in facing the changes is regarding one’s personal views of modern health care provisions.
Of the four factors, behavior is the one most within a person’s control. Changing it for the better can help. Granted, poverty limits the changes that a person can make in his diet and habits, but by utilizing the choices that are available, he can make a substantial difference. As for example, a mother usually has a choice between breast-feeding and bottle-feeding her baby. Breast-feeding, says the United Nations Children’s Fund, is “the superior choice, both physically and economically.
” Mother’s milk, say experts, is “the ultimate health food,” giving the baby “precisely the right concentrations of protein, fat, lactose, vitamins, minerals and trace elements that are needed for harmonious growth. ” Breast milk also transports disease-fighting proteins, or antibodies, from the mother to the baby, giving the infant a head start in combating diseases. (World Health Journal, 2004, p 21) Especially in tropical lands with poor sanitary conditions, breast-feeding is best.
Unlike bottle milk, breast milk cannot be over diluted to save money, mistakes cannot be made during its preparation, and it is always served from a clean container. In contrast, “a bottle-fed baby in a poor community,” notes Synergy, a newsletter from the Canadian Society for International Health, “is approximately 15 times more likely to die from diarrheal disease and four times more likely to die from pneumonia than a baby who is exclusively breastfed. ”(Synergy, 2004, p 4) Then there is the economic advantage. In the developing world, powdered milk is costly.
In Brazil, for example, bottle-feeding a baby may take one fifth of a poor family’s monthly income. The money saved by breast-feeding can provide healthier meals for the whole family—including mother. With all these advantages, it could be expected that breast-feeding would be booming. Yet, health workers in the Philippines report that breast-feeding there is “gravely threatened with extinction,” and a study in Brazil showed that one of the main factors associated with infants dying from respiratory infection is “lack of breastfeeding.
” (Philippine Health Statistics, 2004, 24) Surely, as mentioned earlier, it is obvious that as technology advances with the progress of time, health care processes also change along with the said revolution. At times though, the said change is more of a shift to the negative than to the positive side. Yes, the traditional way of caring for the human health had already been changed and overtaken by the new era’s set of technological medical treatments such as blood transfusion, medical therapies.
Obtaining medicine over the counter is also much easier today than the past decades of human civilization. As observed, many people today care less on the way they live their lives and care for their health because of the fact that they know that medicines for numerous illnesses are already available over the counter. Is this a positive or a negative change? Moreover, what do this changes hold for the future? These questions shall be discussed in the paragraphs to follow.