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Health : |
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If any one says that only those are healthy who function perfectly
in all parts, and that others who function less well are not
healthy, he is over-simplifying the definition of health. Also
it is clear that the real measure of health is not the Utopian
absence of a disease but the ability to function effectively
within a given environment. And since the environment keeps
changing, good health is a process of continuous adaptation
to the myriad microbes, irritants, pressures and problems which
daily challenge man. The definition by WHO is 'health' is a
state of complete physical, mental and social well being and
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Man is a social
animal; he cannot easily live for himself alone; mere must be
harmony with the social environmental, so it can be further
defines as below:
Health is a state of feeling well of body, mind and spirit,
together with a sense of reserve power; based upon normal functioning
of the tissues, a practical understanding of the principles
of healthy living, a harmonious adjustment to the environment
(physical and psychological), it is a means to a richer life
of service
The preservation of health in the group has been defined by
WHO as: "The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging
life, and promoting health and efficiency through organised
community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the
control of communicable infections, the education of the individual
in personal hygiene, the organisation of medical and nursing
services for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of
disease and the development of social machinery to ensure for
every individual a standard of living adequate for the maintenance
of health, so organising there benefits as to enable every citizen
to realise his birth-right of health and longevity
Hygiene
In the good olden days man took a fatalistic view of life, death
and the disease. Sickness, was something to be endured.
It was not until the middle of the 19th century that man's understanding
of nature grew that he could bring the major environmental health
hazards to his control. Another half century later achievements
of sanitary engineering and preventive medicine in adapting
the environment to man were complemented by the success of therapeutic
medicine in helping man to conquer some of the diseases.
As a member of society a citizen has an obligation to seek to
understand them, and also has the privilege of questioning whether
in our effort to add to the comfort and the quantity of life,
we may be sacrificing something. Lest the ways in which we are
artificially reordering ourselves and our environment may not
in some degree diminish our stature in nature and, thereby,
rob life of some of its richness and bring sickness. S. S. Bhatti
observes in his article that the pace of development is regulated
by the animal instincts in man, the process of development itself
thrives on a destruction-construction symbiosis. Chandigarh
may be cited as an example of disciplined architecture... an
environmental conducive to peace... and better quality of life
.
Health For All
The situation today is that nearly one thousand million people
are trapped in the vicious circle of poverty, malnutrition,
disease and despair that saps their energy, reduces their work
capacity and limits their ability to plan for the future. For
the most part they live in the rural areas and urban slums of
the developing countries. Whereas the average life expectancy
at birth is about 70-75 years in the developed countries, it
is only 45-55 in most developing countries. Of every 1,000 children
born into poverty in the least developed countries, 200 die
within a year, another, 100 die before the age of five and only
500 survive to the age of 40.
Health for all is the attainment by all the people of the world
of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially
and economically productive life. It will mean that there will
be a fair distribution among the population of whatever health
resources are available. Essential health care will become accessible
to individuals and families in an acceptable and affordable
way, and their full involvement.
Alam Ata Conference observed that Primary Health Care is the
key to attainment of health for all by the year, 2000. It also
identified eight essential elements of primary health care.
These are: education concerning prevailing health problems and
the methods of preventing and controlling them; promotion of
food supply and proper nutrition; an adequate supply of safe
water and basic sanitation; maternal and child health care,
including family planning; immunization against the major infectious
diseases; prevention and control of locally endemic diseases;
appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and provision
of essential drugs.
It is interesting to note that the various components of primary
health care have direct relation to environmental management.
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