Global health doesn't just mean "somewhere outside our borders," it refers to the inter- connectedness we have with people all over the state, country and world.
Recently experts from around California came together to consider this.
Clearly there are enormous health problems facing our state, with the uninsured topping the list. But as the recent swine flu (H1N1) outbreak showed, California doesn't have the luxury of putting its head in the sand and focusing only within its borders. If we ignore the impact of global health on Californian for the short term, in the long run it will cost lives, drive up health care costs, and move us back into the dark ages.
Global health issues
• Each year lots of people arrive in California from other countries through our airports and harbors. Some carry infections; some of their luggage carries diseases that can affect crops, animals or people.
• Every year there are about 1,500 cases of malaria in the United States; 15 percent of these are in California
• In 2007 there were 13,300 cases of tuberculosis cases in the United States; California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas, accounted for 52 percent of these cases
• In California there has been an increase in a serous form of TB that is resistant to most antibiotics; 84 percent of these cases are in foreign-born people. The cost of the typical hospital treatment: $600,000.
• California was in the top five states with cases of swine flu.
California has played an active role in global- health research and monitoring. This needs to increase to improve our own health and raise the standard of health for the world. As health expert Richard Feachem explained to our group, "We know the cause of the major disease killers in the world and we know the causes of the cause. We now have a moral responsibility to act."
Researcher Mary Woolley conducted a survey of Californians on global-health issues. Her team found Californians are far more aware of the impact global health than are most other Americans: More than 90 percent of Californians feel we have a responsibility to treat diseases that affect people in poorer countries. Californians also believe we should invest in global health research.
Californians also understand that immigration can have an impact on health.
Even in tough times we need to be vigilant about global health. Our economy is in poor shape, but if we don't play a leading role in global health, the results could be devastating.
Michael Wilkes, M.D., is a professor of medicine at the University of California, Davis. Identifying characteristics of patients mentioned in his column are changed to protect their confidentiality. Reach him at drwilkes@sacbee.com.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.