Contemporary Public Health Issues Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Contemporary Public Health Issues. Answer: Introduction The mortality rate is the frequency of death occurrences in a given place at a particular point in time. Mortality rates keep ranging depending on various factors such as the social, economic and environmental factors. Infant mortality is the most common and it cuts across different ethnic groups.in relation to that, this essay elaborates how social and environmental determinants of health leads to the dynamic interplay in mortality rates in Australia. The social determinants are the people's lifestyle that may lead to various mortality rates depending on how severe they are. The environmental factors are the biotic or abiotic factors that may affect the lives of individuals living in that particular area leading to either increase or decrease in mortality rates (Naujokas, et. al. 2013, p. 55). The social determinants of health on the ranging mortality rates include race or ethnicity, infectious diseases, biological factors, income, globalization, social injustice, behavioral factors and psychosocial factors. On the other hand, the environmental factors include the environmental health factors like the exposure of the occupants to toxic substances, cigarette consumption, air pollution and water pollution. These factors, therefore, influence the mortality rates either positively or negatively.it is therefore imperative to study how they influence mortality rates so that necessary actions can be taken to reduce the high rates of mortality (Bauer, Briss, Goodman, and Bowman, 2014, p. 48). Environmental determinants of health on the ranging patterns of mortality Exposure of occupants to toxic substances When the occupants of Australia are exposed to toxic substances that are obviously not good for their health they will contact various diseases that may damage their respiratory systems. Continuous exposure may lead to severe damages leading to chronic diseases such as lung cancer which is very costly to cure and at times may be very tricky to cure in its last stages which are so severe hence leading to increased mortality rates.in that relation the environment should be kept clean the government should ensure certain bodies or organizations exist to ensure environmental conservation. Consumption of addictive drugs such as cigarette The cigarette is a very addictive drug and most people tend to abuse it by consuming too much and yet it is not good to human health. Research shows that too much of its consumption leads to implications such as lung diseases and damages the air sacs in the breathing system hence may cause difficulty in breathing with time (Vineis, and Wild, 2014, p. 559). Its effect is not only to the user but also to the people around the user which is even more severe. This, therefore, shows that too much consumption of it leads to high mortality rates and so the government should employ effective ways of reducing its consumption such as increasing its price by increasing its tax. Air and water pollution Air and water pollution leads to infectious diseases related to respiratory diseases, food hygiene, drinking water and general sanitation. These diseases will definitely lead to increased mortality rates. The public health practitioners should be well acquainted with such health risks and so ensures appropriate measures to control such so as to ensure reduced mortality rates. Air pollutants such as dust, fumes, and smoke can be controlled. The manufacturing industries that emit the toxic fumes should ensure treatment of such gases before releasing them to the air or their waste products before emitting them to rivers so that they do not have adverse effects on the people leaving around such areas (Triassi, Alfano, Illario, Nardone, Caporale, and Montuori, 2015, p. 1210). Social determinants of health on the ranging patterns of mortality Globalization Globalization has emerged profusely in the current days.it has led to both positive and negative effects in different countries. It is very evident that it has helped in the development of various countries Australia included through activities such as trade, tourism, and exchange of information (Knox, Marston, and Imort, 2016, p. 14). Nevertheless, it has led to other negative impacts such as increased health risks such as the spread of communicable diseases and sneaking of illegal drugs into the country such as cocaine. Globalization thus leads to increased mortality rates. Infectious diseases Infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS have led to an increased rate of mortality rates. The public health sector has ensured necessary precautions and cure so as to reduce the mortality rate. Even though the infectious diseases emerge and re-emerge from time to time various actions have been taken by various countries to reduce their spread for example screening of yellow fever and other infectious diseases at various borders before gaining access to the country (Torre, et. al. 2015, p. 96). The government of Australia in conjunction with the public health practitioners should work together to enhance and facilitate such action so as to reduce mortality rates in Australia. Income level Latest research portrays that high levels of income lead to high mortality rates whereas the previous research shows that high-income levels led to low mortality rates. High income level leads to high mortality rates in the current world since with a lot of income people engage in various luxurious activities that are not health friendly since that is what they take for being classy such as drinking expensive alcoholic drinks and abusing hard drugs (Chetty, et. al. 2016, p. 1777). On the other hand, previously high-income levels led to low mortality rates since people many can afford healthy lifestyle and even medical bills in case of illness hence the reduced mortality rates. Biological factors The biological factors include the sex differences, cardiovascular risk, and indicators of inflammation.it is scientifically proven that women live longer than men and that is why a man and a woman who both contact HIV/AIDS at the same time, the woman will live longer than the man which is mostly facilitated by the menstruation cycle of a woman. Happiness is also one of the biological factors that affect the mortality rate since it leads to a long lifespan (Shi, and Hu, 2014, p. 37). Education Education plays a major role in enlightening people about the emerging issues in the world. For that reason those who are educated and rich are less likely to suffer from diseases, be physically impaired and to they have low mortality rate (Aiken, et.al. 2014, p. 1826). On the other hand, those who are poor and lack education are likely to have high mortality rate since they are not so enlightened about what is going on, for example, the breakout of certain diseases and the appropriate precautions hence they end up contacting those diseases and die so fast due to lack of funds and awareness. Social injustice The mortality rate is influenced by the paces that people are born, live, grow, work and age hence the variation. Research shows that social injustice has led to the short-lived lives of individuals as opposed to the good health that they are supposed to enjoy according to biology. Health systems should work towards embracing equity since social injustice is leading to high mortality rates (Levy, and Sidel, 2013, p. 22). Unfair and unjust practices cause ill health and so the Australian government should work towards ensuring social justice in the country so as to reduce the mortality rate in the country. This must also be assisted by the people through their cooperation. Different parts of the country will experience different mortality rates depending on social injustice practices. Conclusion Mortality rates vary day to day depending on various factors that influence it either positively or negatively. These variations can, therefore, be tackled in different ways. This essay has elaborated how the social and environmental factors have affected mortality rates in Australia. Other factors such as economic and psychological factors also affect mortality rates. It is, therefore, significant to evaluate and establish various policies in the health sector that can help in the reduction of mortality rates and in keeping up with its fluctuating nature. The health practitioners together with the government can after evaluation of these factors influencing mortality rates to come up with solutions to curb them. A number of non-governmental organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) has helped in conducting various researchers and in the implementation of some of the policies so as to reduce the mortality rates in the country(World Health Organization and World Health Organization. Management of Substance Abuse Unit, 2014, p. 13). They should also ensure various measures of indicators to be applied in the health sector such life expectancy whereby the government collects information about peoples age at the time of death so as to know the mortality rate and what majorly causes it at a given age that may be so recurring. This will also help it to acknowledge the life expectancy of people in Australia hence can be used to determine the health of people in Australia. Other indicators to be applied in the health sector are mortality indicators, global health, morbidity indicators, disability indicators, social and mental health indicators and nutritional indicators (World Health Organization, 2016. World Health Statistics:. 2016, p. 11). These indicators are very imperative and help the country in analyzing and reducing its mortality rate. Social and environmental factors that influence mortality rates are factors that can be controlled since most of them are just caused by the human being and so appropriate measu res should be taken to reduce them. Bibliography Aiken, L.H., Sloane, D.M., Bruyneel, L., Van den Heede, K., Griffiths, P., Busse, R., Diomidous, M., Kinnunen, J., Kzka, M., Lesaffre, E. and McHugh, M.D.. 2014, 'Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: a retrospective observational study', vol 383, no. 9931, pp. 1824-1830. 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