Global Health: Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Students will learn about the basics of global health as well as the basics of how health care works around the world.
Materials
Homework
- Students will complete Part 1 of the guided reading handout by referencing COVID-19’s Unequal Consequences
Class
- (5 Minutes) Review Homework: Ask students to think about what they know about global health. What are some major global concerns around global health? How did COVID-19 highlight the importance of global health? How did COVID-19 highlight inequality in health care? Pair with neighbors to discuss. Share as class.
- ***Guided Reading Handout USED IN NEXT STEPS***
- (7 Minutes) Watch: What Is Global Health? (4:11)
- Ask: Why do you think focusing on global health is such an important priority? (Especially for the United States as a major funder? Why are both infectious and non communicable diseases a threat to national and global security? (COVID-19 is a great example of harm that can be caused).
- (8 Minutes) Read: Global Health Then and Now (818 words/ 3 pages + charts)
- Ask: In what ways has global health shown significant signs of improvement since the 1960s?
- Ask: What are some areas of concerns in terms of global health?
- (10 Minutes) Read: How Health Care Works Around the World (844 words /3 pages)
- Ask: (Guided Reading Handout) What major goal for 2030 has been put forth by the UN, WHO, and World Bank to improve global health? How does universal health care relate to life expectancy at birth?
- (15 Minutes) Activity: Policy Brief Discussion Scenarios
- Choose 1-2 of the attached scenarios to have students, alone or in groups, discuss policy options, as if briefing the president of their country on what to do with the situation.
- Discuss the difficulties they faced in addressing global health issues.
- Optional: Do all FIVE scenarios in class in lieu of Guide Reading Handout or for longer class periods.
Homework
- Using the policy scenarios attached, assign any unused scenarios to students to write a short policy brief on what they would do in each circumstance.
- Students can share these in the next class.
Vocabulary
- antiretroviral therapy
type of treatment for HIV that involves taking various combinations of medications targeting different parts of the HIV life cycle. ART reduces the likelihood of HIV transmission and slows HIV’s progression in the body, helping people stay healthy for a longer period of time.
- endemic
typically prevalent within a defined geographic location or among a specific group of people.
- epidemic
an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is typical for a certain population in an area.
- immunization
process of protecting or strengthening people’s immune systems to fight off particular infectious diseases, usually accomplished through vaccines.
- infectious disease
also called communicable, a disease that spreads via people, animals, insects, or contaminated food and water—such as the flu, chickenpox, or Ebola.
- multi-payer system
health-care system in which citizens are covered through a variety of plans, both public and private.
- noncommunicable disease
disease that cannot be transmitted via people or animals. Examples include cancer and diabetes.
- pandemic
disease outbreak that has reached at least several countries, affecting a large group of people.
- service
a nonphysical good transferred from the seller to the buyer (e.g., haircut, doctor’s appointment).
- single-payer system
national health-care system in which all citizens are covered by a health-care plan that is fully funded by the government, the so-called single payer.
- Sustainable Development Goals
seventeen global development goals, applicable to all countries, put forth by the United Nations in 2015. Countries seek to meet these wide-ranging goals (from the eradication of poverty to the protection of the planet and universal and affordable internet access) by 2030.
- universal health coverage
the goal, as defined by the United Nations, for all people to have the ability to access affordable, quality health care.