Government Policies On Sustainable Health

Much of the focus on sustainable health care is on prevention rather than cure. This means encouraging healthy eating habits and plenty of exercise, as many Health Maintenance Organizations and health “partnerships” are doing. Sustainable health should go beyond this as anyone can make common sense lifestyle and diet changes.

Government Policies And Health Care

All Government policies and regulations can have indirect impact on sustainable health solutions. For example, if shipping becomes unregulated to the point that rampant smuggling of goods and drugs are taking place across maritime borders, potentially devastating bugs could get loose, as was the case in a early outbreak of cholera in Mexico. Strong regulatory policing can help in many ways to prevent local food and produces from contamination by non-native species.

Changes to national health care system can be slow for some countries where government efficiency are weak, resulting in sluggish policies implementations. However, there is now increased pressure from infectious disease, causing governments to take serious and prompt actions in anticipation of national outbreaks. With worldwide climate change, there is migration of disease vector insects from warmer climate into formerly temperate zones. The yellow mosquito that can carry malaria is one example, as its range appears to be expanding.

Sustainable Health In Poorer Countries

There is urgent need for the governments of poorer countries to provide the enabling environment in which services for the poor by Non-Government Organizations and religious organizations to deliver health care to the poor in a sustainable way. This should include the regulation of services to ensure quality of care and thus minimize unnecessary duplication and unnecessary competition.

The government should include these organizations as partners in health care in all health policy formulation forums at the national, regional, and district levels. This partnership should result in the inclusion of the health services of organizations in national health budget in the form of staff provision and medical supplies.