Stream 3
Culture, Environment and Society: catalysts for addressing health…
"The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition."
- WHO
This academic stream will endeavour to address three vital determinants of health – the social, cultural and environmental aspects. Through four smaller lectures and two workshops running simultaneously over the three days of the conference, many of the important issues pertaining to society, culture and the environment in developing communities and nations worldwide will be addressed. Much of our attention can be swept up in current molecular technology, genome maps and the biochemical structure of new medications. However, life and health are much more complex than this, and society and culture force us to revise and modify our approach to healthcare delivery.
Poverty is the largest epidemic worldwide. It underlies most cases of malnutrition, fuels spread of infectious diseases and exacerbates vulnerability to the effects of ill-health. Hence, in order to improve global health, we must address poverty.
With the intention of tackling the root causes of poverty, one must address these social, cultural and environmental outcomes of poverty – for example, lack of access to water and appropriate sanitation, illiteracy and education, and housing. As well as this, consideration must be given to cultural beliefs and traditions surrounding health.
Health inequalities are a major cause for the increasing levels of poverty seen worldwide. The assets of the top 3 billionaires are worth more than the combined GNP of all least developed countries and their 600 million people (Global Health Watch 2005). Inequalities are not just seen at global levels, but also national and community levels.
Delegates will be asked to consider and debate the social barriers to health and how we can act to address issues such as poor housing, societal inequities, poor education, and lack of access to clean water & sanitation. Particular illnesses and health conditions, for example HIV, can also break down traditional family structures and increase class discrepancies within a community. Using HIV as an example, one of our workshops will focus on addressing the social and cultural implications of HIV on health and poverty. An understanding of how the poverty cycle can exacerbate some of these issues is a key objective, as well as the approaches which can be undertaken to interrupt this cycle. Public health approaches are now often being incorporated into socioeconomic policies in order to improve global health.
More recently, Al Gore has been integral in re-igniting global dialogue on climate change. Delegates undertaking this stream will also be asked to consider the direct and indirect impacts of the environment on health as one of the biggest threats to poverty and human health. Discussion surrounding "climate refugees" and the ensuing social and cultural barriers to health must be considered. The other workshop within this stream will address the root causes of climate change and the implications this can have on developing communities, often the communities least responsible for the effects of climate change. Debate surrounding the provocation of poverty by climate change through loss of agricultural systems, emergence of particular vector-borne and rodent-borne diseases, destruction of freshwater supplies, humanitarian emergencies, threatened food security and migration from rural areas to urban shanty towns will also be embarked on by delegates.
References:
Global Health Watch 2005-2006