Global Health Policy - Research Paper Example

Global nature: In 1997, the World Health Organization called for an international panel of experts and epidemiologists from forty countries worldwide to address the issue of the global threat of tuberculosis in 212 countries (Dye, Scheele, Dolin, Pathania, & Raviglione, 1999). It was calculated that the existing cases of tuberculosis worldwide were around sixteen million (Dye et al., 1999), with about eight million new cases that year (Dye et al., 1999). This meant that the disease was prevalent in thirty two percent of the global population (Dye et al., 1999), effecting 1.

86 billion people across the globe (Dye et al., 1999). To this end, the global fatality rate of TB was estimated at twenty three percent (Dye et al., 1999), although on a country to country basis, it different greatly, with some African countries experiencing a fifty percent death rate due to the disease (Dye et al., 1999). Moreover, the highest incidence rate per capita of the disease was also in the African countries (Dye et al., 1999), reaching a ratio of nine out of ten (Dye et al., 1999). . a global problem, this disease was found to be concentrated in a handful of countries worldwide, as eighty percent of the prevalence was found in twenty two countries (Dye et al., 1999), with 5 Southeast Asian countries housing the majority of those cases (Dye et al., 1999). These statistics clearly show that TB is, indeed, a global health issue (Raviglione et al., 1995), and needs to be addressed as such.

Global healthcare services: The nature of the global healthcare services with regard to the prevention and cure of tuberculosis have changed in their approach and structure worldwide in light of the ineffectiveness of the initial approach adopted by the WHO (Grange & Zumla, 2002). It should be noted that the treatment and prevention of tuberculosis is cheap and affordable (Grange & Zumla, 2002), and is considered quite effective when applied properly (Grange & Zumla, 2002). Nevertheless, the overall incidences of tuberculosis have been increasing globally, including in the developed countries (Grange & Zumla, 2002).

However, the disease is considered a ‘disease of poverty’ (Grange & Zumla, 2002), as it is most prevalent in the economically unstable and poverty-stricken nations of the world (Grange & Zumla, 2002), with ninety five percent cases occurring in those countries (Grange & Zumla, 2002), and ninety eight percent of deaths from the disease (Grange & Zumla, 2002). The WHO has launched a ‘Stop TB Strategy’ (Lonnroth & Raviglione, 2008) in an effort to wipe out the disease by 2050 (Lonnroth & Raviglione, 2008).

The biggest issue to this regard the accessibility and availability of improved vaccines and drugs to the general public (Lonnroth & Raviglione, 2008), especially those living below the poverty line, which is quite limited (Lonnroth & Raviglione,