Why Should the United States Be Concerned About Improving the Health Status of the World? What Is the Benefit to Our Public Health System in the United States? Are We Just Doing This for Humanitarian Reasons? What Is the Return on Investment (Roi)?
The US has been known to be a front-runner in international and global affairs and health is certainly an important matter. While there are many humanitarian groups that raise funds and research in support of low socio-economic countries, the US as a whole aiding other countries is not purely a humanitarian cause. In fact the US has many benefits from supporting and improving the health status of the world.
One of the prime reasons the US has benefit in improving global health is due to the nature of illness and disease. Infectious disease, foodborne illness, and contaminated products can all be spread from country to country and furthermore effect trade and travel (Global Health - Healthy People. n.d.). No matter how healthy the US becomes, there will consistently be international threats. Additionally, the US is one of the most diverse countries and constantly has people traveling in and out of the border. In 2011, 7.5 million US visas were issued in foreign countries (Report of the Visa Office 2011 Table of Contents. n.d.). International travelers come to the US for various reasons including tourism, medical treatment, temporary work, business, and to visit family (Temporary Visitors to the U.S.. n.d.). The US has always welcomed people in and is a part of what makes the country so diverse. However, with a high influx of out of country visitors, come foreign diseases, agents, and products. New strains of bacteria behave and adapt differently in American environment compared to their native environments and this creates a whole new resistant strain of bacteria and disease. For a country that is as diverse and has open doors to foreigners, it is only in the best interest of the country to promote global health. Another benefit to the public health system of the US in investing in global health is that they may use comparative data from other countries. Currently Japan has the lowest infant mortality rate at 2.8 deaths per 1000 live births compared to the
One of the prime reasons the US has benefit in improving global health is due to the nature of illness and disease. Infectious disease, foodborne illness, and contaminated products can all be spread from country to country and furthermore effect trade and travel (Global Health - Healthy People. n.d.). No matter how healthy the US becomes, there will consistently be international threats. Additionally, the US is one of the most diverse countries and constantly has people traveling in and out of the border. In 2011, 7.5 million US visas were issued in foreign countries (Report of the Visa Office 2011 Table of Contents. n.d.). International travelers come to the US for various reasons including tourism, medical treatment, temporary work, business, and to visit family (Temporary Visitors to the U.S.. n.d.). The US has always welcomed people in and is a part of what makes the country so diverse. However, with a high influx of out of country visitors, come foreign diseases, agents, and products. New strains of bacteria behave and adapt differently in American environment compared to their native environments and this creates a whole new resistant strain of bacteria and disease. For a country that is as diverse and has open doors to foreigners, it is only in the best interest of the country to promote global health. Another benefit to the public health system of the US in investing in global health is that they may use comparative data from other countries. Currently Japan has the lowest infant mortality rate at 2.8 deaths per 1000 live births compared to the