Health as a Multifactorial Phenomenon

HEALTH AS A MULTIFACTORIAL PHENOMENON FACTORS AFFECTING HEALTH A. POLITICAL Involves one’s leadership how/she rules, manages and other people in decision making. 1. Safety - The condition of being free from harm, injury or loss of authority or power 2. Oppression - Unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power 3. Political will - Determination to pursue something which is for the interest of the majority. 4. Empowerment - The ability of a person to do something - Creating the circumstances where people can use their faculties and abilities at the maximum level in the pursuit of common goals B. CULTURAL - relating to the representation of non-physical traits, such as values, beliefs, attitudes and customs shared by a group of people and passed from the generation to the next. 1. Practices - A customary action usually done to maintain or promote health like use of anting-anting and lucky charms. 2. Beliefs - A state or habit of mind wherein a group of people place into something or a person. C. HEREDITY - The genetic transmission of traits from parents to offspring; genetically determined. D. ENVIRONMENT - The sum of all the conditions and elements that make up the surroundings and influence the development of the individuals. E. SOCIO-ECONOMIC - refers to the production activities, distribution of and consumption of goods of an individual. THE NATIONAL HEALTH SITUATION Majority of the 68,616,536 million Filipinos (millions) in the urban and 35 million in the rural areas) cannot avail of adequate health care because of misdistribution of health personnel and facilities, and high cost of medicines and services. • There are 1,742 hospitals in the country; most of them are in the urban areas. • Of this number, 1103 are privately owned; 639 are government owned. • There are 2,385 poorly equipped Health Centers. • The Philippines is the leading exporter of nurses abroad. • Sixty eight percent (68%) of the Filipino doctors go abroad; 32% of them remain the country, but most stay in the cities • For every 10 deaths, 6 were not seen by a doctor. • The leading causes of death and illness are predeceases and other socially related problems such as AIDS and drug abuse. • Pneumonia and tuberculosis are leading cause of death • 16 Filipinos , 11 of whom are children, die everyday from diarrhea

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2 babies die every hour from pneumonia, diarrhea, measles and malnutrition.

THE PHILIPPINES: • Number 1 in the world for whooping cough, diphtheria and rabies. • Number 3 in the world for blindness due to vitamin A deficiency. • Number 1 in the western pacific region for tuberculosis, schistosomiasis and polio. As a result of mainly poverty, malnutrition is also a major health problem. • 2 million of Filipino pre-school children are malnourished. • 1.6 million Filipinos have Vitamin a, iron and iodine deficiencies. • More than 50% pregnant or breastfeeding mothers are anemic. • In addition to poor nutrition, poor sanitation and lack of a safe water supply make an individual susceptible to disease. • 13 million Filipinos have no access to safe water • 16 million Filipinos have no access to a sanitary toilet. • In Manila alone, 5 million tons of garbage is disposed daily. The National Health Situation is intimately linked to the economic, political and socio-cultural system of the society. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

A VISION OF HEALTHY TOMORROW: Preventive , promotive health care Community participation Traditional medicine Affordable medicine Adequate food, clothing and shelter Available basic health services Accessible health care facilities Clean environment

Danger Signs: To attain the dream of healthy tomorrow, everyone should take part in working for its fulfillment. Everybody must participate in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the community’s program