Papa John’s vs. Quinoa
This week’s class discussion really got me thinking about
the importance of a definition even bringing me down to dissecting why we do
it! One question that drew me in was asking does it even matter that we settle
on the definition of ‘global health’ and whether it differs from ‘international
health’ or ‘public health’ for that matter? And I think the general consensus
was that it doesn’t and we should just go out and do it! I most certainly agree
that a lot of time and effort has been spent in an attempt to define the
meaning of each which could have been used towards resolving a health disparity,
but I think after greater reflection, I am on the other side. Hang-in there,
let me explain!
Taking it back to in the context of international health and
global health, how can we just go out and work the intervention needed
especially when it comes to crossing boarders and cultural differences amongst
them if we are unsure of which components within the definitions align with my
own? How am I to know that when I am talking to a government official in
Nigeria on policy changes needed or a nongovernmental organization on
strategizing a health intervention in a remote area that we are on the same
page? If one concept within the definition is left out from one party, it can
be difficult to measure any type of progress made or whether we are even
creating a deeper issue than what we came there to resolve, such as creating a
culture of dependency, which is often seen in some areas (a topic for another
day). This can become even more difficult when we work on larger epidemics
worldwide. If you can’t define something, how can we measure it for both progress
as well as future learnings? Or even simply understanding whose responsibility
it is (government, NGO, etc.) to tackle the issue at hand?
Within these
collaborations, definitions should be agreed upon so that each incorporate the
same ‘ingredients’ so we can be sure not to ‘burn’ the pizza!
Photo credit: Scott, W. (2016). Retrieved from: www.cartoonstock.com,
I must admit, while fussing over definitions frustrates me to no end in any field, you make a very good case for it with this simple pizza analogy. While agreeing on a world-wide definition of pizza might just be impossible, it is necessary to at least be able to define it in the context in which you need to use and understand it. In the case of global health, I think this involves a clear agreement on purpose, goals, and strategies to achieve them. We mentioned in class that the SDGs have become quite a lengthy laundry list of global targets to increase worldwide health and prosperity, but they do somewhat capture what a definition of global health could look like. It would need to be fairly all-encompassing and respect that success will look different depending on the problem at hand and the resources available to solve it. With a set of definitions rather than a single global agreement, various stakeholders (countries, NGOs, citizens, global health initiatives, etc) could contribute in the way they are able and still generate improvement. Might be a better use of our time to start attacking the issue from various perspectives with a common end goal than to quibble over one single definition/action plan to satisfy everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteSydney, you are absolutely right! The SDGs do capture what a definition would look like in my perspective of it as well as the fact that success is certainly different according to different organizational bodies that would contribute to the global health picture. Perhaps with each's understanding and awareness of the set of definitions they would have this mutual understanding that they contribute in the way they can with the resources available to them; hopefully, no one will be straining the system. I think as long as if everyone is in agreement of this end goal and are aware of what their role is in achieving it, we will be ok. I also believe that the open communication and debate about what defines this end goal will help in setting such goals and allocating resources effectively.
DeleteThis topic was my big take away from the last class lecture. I believe that each nation can have a definition for public health that reflects their needs, but a standard definition should be applied to international or global health. With that being said, we definitely need to make the distinction between international and global health. Global and international are used interchangeable, but they shouldn’t be. We have this issue with epidemic and pandemic as well. Actually, there are probably many words that we use incorrectly in the English language. I think this is a particular problem in the health world. Hopefully, awareness will continue to be raised on correct terminology and people will adopt these corrections.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Amy that reaching a common definition is highly important in order to allow for more effective intervention and proper evaluation of progress. However; In the context of global health, I believe that all defenitions had the same main ideas and parameters which, in my opinion, will allow for good intervention and evaluation.
ReplyDeleteThe pizza example, from my point of view, is an example of the social construction of reality that differs among populations and should be taken in consideration before and during intervention. Dealing with different populations as multiple and different local worlds must occur within the context of any proposed definition of global health.
I agree with Erin that we need a distinction between global & international health as the interchangable use of the two terms is not precise. However; the extensive attempts to reach a common definition for global health itself, in my opinion, took too much time. As we all have a common context (maybe not exactly the same words) for global health, I believe we can intervene effeciently & evaluate our progress taking into consideration cultural, social and political variations of the populations upon which we intervene.
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ReplyDeleteI need a Pizza now!!
ReplyDelete