The Medical Model of Health - Essay Example

Two Health Models 06 November Introduction From a Western point of view, the medical model of health is concentrated or focused on the prevention and eradication of illnesses through accurate diagnosis and the use of some chemical treatments known as drugs. In this regard, the traditional medical model of health is based on scientific medical knowledge of the body and its functions as well as knowledge of treatments derived mainly from medical science. Modern medical practices are based mostly on this medical model of health that tries to prevent ailments and failing that, help in peoples recovery from those ailments to restore well-being in general. This health model is based on a medical scientific paradigm that emphasizes a restoration of health to a state of general well-being and the key word is recovery (Lyng, 1990:100). On the other hand, the social model of health emphasizes the prevention measures that can be made on society as a whole that will promote overall well-being in a certain population by making some changes in the lifestyles of people. In other words, the social model of health looks at the social causes of diseases and examines how the breakdown in social systems can be contributory to the outbreak and spread of diseases (Earle, 2007:55). The large-scale health projects commonly adopted by governments to eradicate certain diseases embrace this social model of health by trying to change a whole citys or even an entire countrys population. This latest concept to sweep among public health policy makers compares societal breakdowns as the primary cause of diseases within society. A good example would be social and economic inequalities which contribute to the poor health of certain segments of society such as ethnic or minority groups which do not have access to proper medical care services. Discussion The medical model of health is concerned mainly with the health of an individual and this is more or less in terms of physical health. This model takes a narrower view of the health of the individual in terms of physiological or biological changes as determined by a diagnosis. On the other hand, the social model of health takes an encompassing view of the health of the entire society and is a multi-disciplinary endeavour ranging from surveillance and detection of diseases in a population (epidemiology) to the promotion of public health through a provision of relevant health advice and timely health information. As such, the social model of health acquires greater significance in terms of promotion of the economic well-being of a nation as well. There is no doubt there is general agreement of good health as one of the critical requirements to living a full and satisfying life. A person that is generally healthy contributes significantly to the economic output of a country as well as not use its public health resources which cause the government undesirable expenses. The United Nations has taken cognizance of the significance of health such that it had included a health provision in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) as closely linked to the freedoms from fear and want. In it, the UN declared the right of everyone to the highest levels of standard in both physical and mental health. More importantly, it has redefined the meaning of health as not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (the old medical model of health) but also as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being (the social model of health today). Along this line, public health is viewed as one of the basic rights related to citizenship and social justice which recognizes the intrinsic value of each individual regardless of status in life. This universal guarantee then includes the right to safe and decent living conditions as well as a healthy environment in the efforts to promote universal human rights (Boyle & Anderson, 1998:5). There are different perspectives when talking about global public health. The first is defining global to mean worldwide, the second is transcending national boundaries, the third is taking global to mean as something holistic and lastly, as supra-territorial. The truly global health perspective views the social, political and economic determinants of health anywhere in the world (Bozorgmehr, 2010:19). Whatever is the connotation of global public health, it is closely related to such important issues as malnutrition, the spread of HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and infant mortality, polio and the other infectious diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the main coordinator of all medical research on issues about global public health such as eradication of polio and the development of new vaccines with its mission being the attainment by all people of the highest possible levels of health. Its 2 major tasks are to combat diseases and promote overall public health based on the social model of health. WHO declared smallpox as completely eradicated in 1979. An example of a global public health issue is the use of vaccines to improve the global public health that prevents millions of child hospitalizations and deaths each year. The drive to immunize all children also results in the aversion of adult deaths due to the prevention of a hepatitis B virus that causes liver cancer, chronic liver disease and the human papilloma virus that cause cervical cancer in adult women (CDC, 2010:1368). Many factors affect or constrain the attainment of global public health objectives such as armed conflicts, politics, economic resources, communications and social or cultural issues. Armed conflict is a major public hazard to global health that simply cannot be ignored and is a factor that affects mostly women and children (Mishra, 2000:136) by causing malnutrition and diseases among them. Previous models of global public health relied on the state as the primary actor to respond to any infectious disease outbreak but politics can get in the way like in the case of SARS which China at first attempted to keep secret (Davies, 2010:150). Admittedly, there is a wide variation in how health care is provided and funded across the world. In the rich developed countries, medical innovations and new technologies coupled with a shortage of qualified medical personnel, ageing populations and a longer lifespan have made soaring health care costs a primary economic and political issue (Holtz, 2007:73). But in poorer developing nations, a more pressing issue is finding the funds for providing even the basic medical care for a sometimes fast-growing population. As a result, there is now a trend toward a new field which is called health economics. It combines the principles of economics with that of health care and involves issues like managing the demand for health care instead of the usual way of managing health care by increasing the supply of health care services. The idea is to make people use medical care services more appropriately (Goldberg, 1998:1). This new concept does not imply rationing or restricting it but entails a far broader approach in the face of supply constraints like public funds and qualified personnel (Pencheon, 1998:1665). Constraints in effective communications about availability of primary health services to concerned families and communities resulted in 11 million deaths worldwide of children 5 years and younger that was easily preventable (Haider, 2005:255). Global reproductive health is another global public health issue which often lacks effective communications due to social and cultural barriers. To counteract this, social marketing is used that includes some behaviour modification, marketing strategies and market segmentation (ibid:217). Conclusion The importance of global public health issues is emphasized within the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations that should be achieved by the year 2015. Today, the economic crisis has put urgency into the issue of declining global health condition in poor countries which ravage lives, restrain national development and even menace health security in developed countries (Cooper, Kirton & Schrecker, 2007:79). Polio and TB have re-emerged as serious threats coupled with new diseases like SARS and the avian influenza. References Boyle, A. E. & Anderson, M. R. (1998) Human Rights Approaches to Environmental Protection. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Bozorgmehr, K. (2010) “Rethinking the Global in Global Health: A Dialectic Approach.” Globalisation and Health, 6 (1), p. 19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) Global Routine Vaccination Coverage, 2009. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 59 (42), pp. 1367-71. Cooper, A. F., Kirton, J. J. & Schrecker, T. (2007) Governing Global Health: Challenge, Response, Innovation. Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing. Davies, S. (2010) Global Politics of Health. 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