Text Only
Search

Taking the Pulse of Public Opinion About Health Problems

25 December 2007
MP3 - Download Audio - Download (MP3) audio clip
MP3 - Download Audio - Listen to (MP3) audio clip
Listen in RealAudio - Download audio clip

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

What do you think of health in your country? Researchers asked people in forty-seven countries around the world. They also asked them what they think of the efforts of donor nations. The findings are in the new Kaiser/Pew Global Health Survey.

AIDS orphans wait for food in Manzini, Swaziland
AIDS orphans wait for food in Manzini, Swaziland
Majorities in almost every country said wealthier nations are not doing enough to help poorer ones. That includes help with economic development, reducing poverty and improving health.

But in countries that receive the most development aid, people were much more likely to say that wealthy nations are doing enough. And in wealthier nations, there was strong support to do more to help.

The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Global Attitudes Project did the survey.

The top health concern in the Latin American and Middle Eastern countries in the survey was fighting hunger and poor nutrition. In Central and Eastern Europe, people said they worry most about their ability to get health care. And in parts of Africa and Asia, the most pressing health issue is preventing and treating H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.

In some countries, large majorities said AIDS is a bigger problem now than it was five years ago. But in most countries, the survey found a strong sense of progress in treating and preventing H.I.V.

Yet finding new drugs and other treatments for public health problems is one thing. Putting them to use in developing countries where they could save thousands of lives each day is another.

Scientists at the Fogarty International Center in Maryland say more work in the area of implementation science could bridge the problem. Karen Hofman is head of international science policy at the center, part of the National Institutes of Health. She describes implementation science as the next level for health research.

One example she notes is male circumcision. Studies have found that it may help prevent the spread of H.I.V. But different cultures react differently to the idea of circumcision. Doctor Hofman says researchers must now study how best to employ this medical intervention in culturally sensitive ways.

Another example is drugs that are normally effective in suppressing H.I.V. In poor countries, these might not work in patients who also suffer from malaria, tuberculosis or bad nutrition. In other words, Doctor Hofman says, when it comes to treatments, one size does not fit all.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Steve Ember.

emailme.gif E-mail this article
printerfriendly.gif Print Version

  Featured Story
On the Great Lakes, Not Just the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald  Audio Clip Available

  More Stories
Vaccine Shortage Complicates Fight Against H1N1  Audio Clip Available
Why Holding Fruit on Trees May Limit Next Year's Crop  Audio Clip Available
Norman Borlaug, 1914-2009: Pioneer of the Green Revolution  Audio Clip Available
What Is Your Favorite Song About Autumn?  Audio Clip Available
Plan Aims to Fight Child Diarrhea in Developing World  Audio Clip Available
Helen Keller, 1880-1968: Out of a World of Darkness and Silence, She Brought Hope to Millions of People Around the World  Audio Clip Available
Words and Their Stories: Wildcat  Audio Clip Available
A Second Term for Karzai; US Jobless Rate at 10.2%  Audio Clip Available
150 Years Later, Remembering John Brown's Raid  Audio Clip Available
So Where Are the Jobs?  Audio Clip Available
American History Series: South Sees Protests in North as an Opening  Audio Clip Available
High School Exchange Students in US Share Their Thoughts  Audio Clip Available