One of the most necessary and important parts of the world’s wellbeing is the healthcare system and especially global health programs. However, the way such programs and policies are designed and delivered makes the difference between just doing good and actually improving people’s health on a large scale. The purpose of this paper is to discuss global health programs and list the key ingredients to developing a successful global health policy. Also, challenges and barriers to the creation, funding, and dissemination of global health programs will be discussed. Besides, the way a past successful global health program has positively affected this professional field will be explained.
There are several factors required for every global health program to be successful. As getting public health programs work takes huge amounts of money, funding from local and international sources is necessary. Being able to afford and use new technologies, for instance, micronutrient supplements, vaccines, and drugs permits the global health program to produce health gains and work more effectively. Proper management is the third factor that affects the success rate of a program. An appropriate health service delivery needs motivated and trained workers to be available and to have the required equipment, supplies, supervision, and transportation to do their job well.
In addition, there are several challenges that any global health program faces and has to deal with. First of all, it is necessary to understand people’s needs and demands for services. These are the factors that change from time to time and influence the main goals of a new global health program that needs to aim at the most severe problems (Shiffman, 2017). Also, after creating the plan for a new program, the next step is to find enough financial resources for making it work. Finally, qualified and experienced workers are also needed for any program to be successful.
There are many cases of proven success in global health programs. One of them is defeating meningitis A in twenty-six African countries. For many centuries, it was an awful severe disease that often led to fatal consequences (Glassman & Temin, 2016). The necessary treatment was too expensive for those countries that needed it most. Fortunately, the global coalition united and found an Indian pharmaceutical company that agreed to vaccinate people for a very small price. Millions of citizens from fifteen countries have been healed, and nowadays, in these areas, meningitis A is almost destroyed.
References
Glassman, A., & Temin, M. (2016). Millions saved: New cases of proven success in global health. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Shiffman J. (2017). Four challenges that global health networks face. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 6(4), 183–189.