Comparisons & Careers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comparisons & Careers - Essay Example local, public health aims to prevent disease, promote population health, and prolong life through organized community or group efforts (Beaglehole & Bonita, 2009, 2). Thus, it is essential to study the individual population health of each country in order to understand the global public health of the United States. To have a comparison of public health among other countries and the United States, the author selected Kenya’s health data. Kenya is located in the African region and the health metrics used both in Kenya and United States’ health data are for 2009. From the global perspective, 50% must be the global average of population living in urban areas. Kenya has less than global average of people living in the urban areas (22%) while the United States is far above the global average (82%). Meanwhile, United States has greater life expectancy (81 years) than Kenya (62 years) from a global perspective of 71 years (WHO, 2012, n.p.). Other health metrics are also observed, particularly those of mortality rates among children, adult risk factors, availability of health workforce, and inequities in health care. Surprisingly, the author found strikingly deviations between two countries and the global perspective of public health. For instance, health metrics of Kenya revealed that the population has higher mortality rates than U.S. in children under five years old, adult, pregnant women, and those with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Kenya’s morality rates of 63 cases of HIV per 1,000 population aged 15-49 years and the 283 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 population have caught the attention of the author as communicable diseases are more prevalent in Kenya (76) than in U.S. (9) while non-communicable diseases are more prevalent in U.S. (72) than in Kenya (14) (WHO, 2012, n.p.). In addition, the author found out that there are 360 deaths per 100,000 population due to maternal-related causes which calls for exte nsive need to address this health problem. Other