PUBLIC HEALTH IN AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

1. ABSTRACT RESEARCH QUESTION PUBLIC HEALTH IN AGE OF GLOBALIZATION According to the United Nations Habitat Program, the largest increase in population growth will occur in cities of the developing world. The study examines the impact this phenomenon will have on public health. Focus is paid to health disparity that exists between urban and rural regions, and the cultural, economic and social motives at play. The aim of this study is two-fold: (1) Understand the factors contributing to disparities in distribution of healthcare, (2) Dissection of established programs at hand to tackle these issues, and (3) final analysis of the economic, social, and cultural factors contributing to the increased existence of these disparities. Information was gathered through archival analyses of country health statistics and other country profiles of Senegal. There is much research on the topic of public health in developing countries for obvious reasons of significance. However, most of the research focuses on what the government is providing, or how the establishment of outside aid works to ameliorate the situation. Very little research actually focuses on these issues in conjunction with the fact that many people, both professional workers and the unemployed migrate out of the nation every year in search of better opportunities. Case Study: Senegal, West Africa By: Mously Diakhate University of California San Diego, Urban Studies & Planning Department IMAGES & DIAGRAMS THEORETICAL PROPOSITION SIGNIFICANCE • My chosen framework is that of haunting theory presented by Avery Gordon. There is a distinct passage in his essay that clearly describes my connection of haunting to this research. Gordon writes, “Slavery has ended, but something of it continues to live on, in the social geography of where peoples reside, in the authority of collective wisdom and shared benightedness, in the veins of the contradictory formation we call New World modernity, propelling, as it always has, a something to be done” (Gordon, 139). Replacing the context of slavery with that of colonialism in this quote, highlights the overall theory of haunting that transcribes this research. • The term I can come up with to combine my study of Aid and colonialism in the context of haunting is “Possession of Psyche”. The inferiority complex that is seen through Maathai’s description of Africa’s current condition is a reflection of the persistent psychological affects of colonialism that continues to haunt many Africans and their nation states. Aside from the reinforcement of cycle of poverty that create inefficient healthcare systems, and other infrastructures, there exists an inferiority complex The population forecast provided by the UN Habitat Program sheds light on a crucial global epidemic that has been in existence for many decades because of the Information Age. However, when this phenomenon takes on Third World nations, it creates a new social diagram. Senegal is a country of 12.8 million inhabitants with a 2.6% population growth rate (UN Statistics Division). An increase in population density in cities of developing nations—whose GDPs are constantly below par—is a cause for alarm. This density is alarming in that it creates rapid urbanization as populations leave the rural communities for urban in search of better conditions and opportunities. In the end, we see a large gap in health access and outcomes between the two regions. INTRODUCTION In regards to the population of Africa alone, the United Nations Habitat Program stated, “…For the first time in 2009, Africa’s total population exceeded one billion, of which 395 million, almost 40 per cent, lived in urban regions…” (UN Habitat 2010). Third world nations (many of which are in Africa) inhabit some of the most vulnerable communities to inefficient health outcomes in the world, which are highly exacerbated by increased population density. Of the eight UN Development Goals, three highly affect the developing nation of Senegal: (1) Fight against Poverty and Hunger, (2) Improvement of Maternal Health and, (3) Improvement of Child Health. FURTHER I consider myself a “Native Researcher” because as I continue to read and do research on my topic of Aid, I become increasingly uncomfortable with what I find because it ‘touches home’. When studying the reality that Aid is in fact doing more harm to Africa then good, I discovered that many entities are to blame. The people who are giving their money are to blame because they give without following through, without ensuring that their money goes by Aid organizations and Western Nations in general is to overlook a key player in this controversy. Studying Down or studying the cultural, social and religious aspects of those in need of Aid is where the challenge exists. Depending on focus, I am essentially Studying UP and Studying Down. FUTURE RESEARCH • AID Without Education • -What role does education play in giving African -How can the rest of the world be educated on the true demographics of African nations in the name of progress? • Inferiority Complex • -What role does inferiority play in reinforcing the negative effects of FINDINGS • THE STUDY FOUND: • Profound social, economic, and cultural practices leading to inequities between the rural and urban communities in terms of access and quality of healthcare. • Diminishing international aid to migration of prominent health providers, EMPIRICAL DATA EMPIRICAL DATA • Most of the graphs are self-explanatory with statistics • of amount of money given by each donor country overall. • Focus is placed in Senegal as a microcosm of the African continent in general. AID THAT WORKS -According to an article in the New York Times by Pascal Fletcher “Senegalese Farm Shows Benefits of Targeted AID”, A Spanish Agricultural program invested resources into a small community of farmers in the Village of Djilakh in revitalizing soil that has long given out. According to the article, these farmers are now International exporters of melons to markets. “Between 1980 and 1989 the government turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and aid increased to just over ten percent of GDP REFERENCES • “The Challenge for Africa” by Wangari Maathai • “Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa” by Dambisa Moyo • US Department of State website • NY Times Article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/business/worldbusiness/01iht-melon.4.15803881.html • Eldis Organization http://www.eldis.org/id21ext/s9bbo1g1.html CONTACT Mously Diakhate Urban Studies & Planning, Premed Email: diakhate.md@gmail.com