Dealing with Premature Mortality: International and National Evidence

Reflection on Dealing With Premature Mortality

Public Health On Completion Of This Essay Students Able To Understand- Critically Reflect On The Historical Development Of Public Health. Write Essay Topics  on Tackling Premature Mortality Using Specific National Or International Evidence Critically Reflect On Tackling Premature Mortality, Including Critical Appraisals Of Different Approaches To Health And Its Improvement.

Premature mortality is a measure of the unfulfilled life expectancy of a person. This is because the deaths of young people can be prevented, which can help to reduce the premature rate of mortality. There are different causes of premature death that include high blood pressure, drinking, drug addiction, and pollution. However, prevention steps like proper diet and exercise can help to reduce the risk of premature deaths. The government can devise different measures like providing education, preventing communicable diseases and organizing health camps at remote places. Loss of middle-aged family members has proved to be devastating for a family in terms of economic reasons. Moreover, loss of childhood and education, the poor mental health of family members are often recorded for premature deaths. In this essay, critical reflection has been done on the ways of dealing with premature mortality. Different international and national evidence about tackling premature mortality are used while discussing the topic.

There are many factors that can cause premature mortality and managing these factors wisely can help to tackle premature mortality. These causes include high blood pressure, smoking, physical inactivity, heavy drinking, high level of cholesterol and obesity. As opined by Stringhini et al. (2017), improving health service can help to prevent incidents of premature mortality. Governments of different countries have taken several initiatives to encourage people to improve their health quality to prevent events of premature deaths. These initiatives have made remarkable progress and in the year 2014, the life expectancy of the globe has increased to 70. However, Price et al. (2016) have contradicted that there are still various health issues that are causing death at relatively early ages. More than 192 national governments and the United Nations are working on this matter to reduce the rate of premature death. Many proposals are there including prevention of malaria, preventing infant death and vaccination. Ward et al. (2017) have argued that everyone must focus on strengthening the health system of countries. If everyone gets equal opportunities to access health services, premature deaths can be avoided by the people of this planet.

It can be seen that low-income countries are facing a maximum number of events of premature deaths. In 2015, more than 9 million people from developing countries including Haiti, Uganda, Bangladesh, India, and others. It is expected that the rate of premature mortality may fall from 28 million to 24 million each year by the end of 2030 (Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2015). It has become essential for the government of countries to take initiatives to make people aware of the harmful effect of having an imbalanced diet, consumption of alcohol, drugs and lack of physical activities. Public Health England (PHE) has taken initiative in 2015 to report on the impact of alcohol consumption on health. This approach has helped to make maximum people aware of the harmful effects of alcohol and reduce the rate of premature deaths from liver diseases (Ias.org.uk, 2018). Reducing alcohol consumption may improve the quality of life of the target population and they can live longer lives. PHE has successfully introduced alcohol care teams in hospital settings to provide services and care to the community. In England, specialists alcohol treatment is available and alcohol risk assessment implementation has begun from 2013 within the health check of NHS. The government of this country is continuously supporting the agenda of reducing premature deaths from liver disease by providing funds.  

Improving Health Services to Prevent Premature Mortality

In Australia, the government of this country is aware of the possible causes of early deaths and they are suggesting people maintain certain disciplines to stay healthy and live longer. As mentioned by Pryor et al. (2017), smokers must quit smoking to avoid cardiovascular deaths and people with higher blood pressure needs to lose bodyweight by doing enough physical activities. Australians eat fresh vegetables and fruits to stay fit and healthy. A healthy dietary system of Australian people has strengthened the immune system and it can reduce the rate of premature mortality in Australia. On the other hand, Xie et al.(2016) have mentioned that changing the lifestyle must be done under the observation of a doctor as it is a risky procedure. As per the Australian government, non-smokers, regular exercise and limited alcohol consumption can help a person to avoid premature death. Hence, in another way, it can be stated that improving health can result in increasing the living age of individuals. Dieticians Association of Australia is always available to help people to have healthy eating habits for reducing the rate of premature deaths. Additionally, local community health centers of Australia are collaborating with the government to help in this manner.

Obesity is another cause of premature deaths as it gives birth to several health issues including high blood pressure, abnormal heart rate, and many others. Governments are taking initiatives to make people aware of the harmful effects of obesity on life expectancy. As stated by John et al. (2018), Livelighter is an innovative campaign that has been started in 2012 in Australia. This campaign aims to make people aware of a healthy lifestyle. It has included key messages portrayed by previous campaigns including Find 30, Go for 2&5 and others. This campaign aims to help people to improve their lifestyle in terms of food consumption and physical activities. On the other hand, Walter et al. (2017) have mentioned that the UK spent millions on their anti-obesity campaign and this approach is helping this country to reduce the rate of premature deaths. Reportedly, in 2008, the government of this country has spent more than 74 million on a particular anti-obesity campaign. 'Walking into Heath' is another campaign that has been initiated to encourage people to walk around a kilometer each day to maintain healthy body weight. Similarly, other countries of this globe are taking initiatives of a campaign to aware people of the importance of maintaining a healthy body weight to avoid premature deaths. Maintaining a required body weight helps people maintain a balanced heart rate and blood pressure. At this condition, the body becomes immune and it helps individuals to fight with harmful diseases.  

International and National Initiatives to Tackle Premature Mortality

Maintaining a normal level of blood pressure is another approach to tackling the issues of premature mortality. According to Mäki and Martikainen (2016), if people can maintain the normal blood pressure ratio, it will be easier for them to live longer. Shaping the treatment of high blood pressure by 70% may play a vital role in extending the life expectancy of more than 39.3 million people in the world. Many countries are spreading awareness regarding the importance of blood pressure control. On the contrary, Tikkanen-Dolenc et al.(2017) have mentioned that it is a big challenge to incorporate this approach into practice. However, several countries have taken initiatives to mitigate this challenge. In Northern California, the Kaiser Permanente program has successfully increased the control over hypertension by near about 90%. More than thousands of patients of the health system from 2001 to 2013 have been included within this program. Several strategies have been used in this program to control the blood pressure of participants. These strategies include user-friendly services, improved protocols of treatment, healthcare system to control hypertension. Many countries are spreading awareness about consuming a healthy diet and doing regular exercise to control the blood pressure level. Different campaigns are taking place to help people deal with daily life stressors so that they can live longer with a normal rate of blood pressure. Hence, it can be said by reviewing the results of this program that this kind of program must be arranged to reduce the rate of premature mortality due to diseases of blood pressure.

In other European countries like Scotland, the premature mortality rate has been reduced until 2014. However, in 2015 the premature rate of deaths has increased slightly in this country, which has remained at a similar level until 2016 (Gov.scot, 2017). The lower level of premature deaths in this country is due to the proper role-playing by the government. The government of Scotland has focused totally to improve health and decrease inequalities. This government is committed to allocate resources without any discrimination and enforce other preventative activities equally. As said by Ghude et al. (2016), discrimination while enforcing government policies impacts on the objective of the policy implementation. The government of Scotland plays a direct role to ensure the delivery of healthcare services to all communities for improving the health of the population.

The national institute of health and care excellence in the UK stated that two-thirds of deaths are aged 75 or below can be avoided. Maximum deaths occurred due to the reasons for liver failure, heart disease, and cancer that can be avoided through proper maintenance of habits and diets. As contradicted by Plümper et al.(2018), education and economic conditions are the main reasons that influence premature deaths. In the UK, a large number of people die due to liver disease, heart disease and heart disease who are poor and less educated. Health inequalities in Great Britain are a significant factor that occurs due to political factor. However, the health department focuses on improving the condition by supplying local areas with information for helping them in understanding their current condition. They do it by targeting different health disparities.

Initiatives taken by the Government of Australia

For tackling premature deaths, the government of the UK has taken different measures that have helped to increase the life expectancy rate of the population. The main causes of death in this country are stroke, heart diseases, and cancer. Hence, the health department of the UK has launched a strategy that consists of some course of action. The NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and public health of England have offered support to the health department for improvising the strategies (Nice.org.uk, 2014). Placing local government properly for improving public health is a strategy that is one to improve public health among communities. According to this strategy, the local government will be held responsible for addressing different conditions that result in premature deaths. As stated by Shiels et al.(2017), two-thirds of deaths can be avoided through proper planning and providing support equally. Moreover, it was found in research that 80% of premature deaths are totally preventable through proper diagnosis and proper treatment. Hence, the local government needs to play an effective role by assessing the needs of the local community and framing strategies to control the outbreak of any epidemics. David et al.(2019) argued that local government needs to respond properly for spreading preventable measures regarding non-communicable diseases. Different diseases like respiratory and heart disease can be controlled by restricting drug overuse and unhealthy eating habits.

NICE has also helped local administration through new public health policies. In these policies, tobacco has been stated as a great cause of premature deaths that causes heart issues and cancer. In the UK, near about 80 thousand people die every year due to cancer and respiratory disease irrespective of the rich and poor. This is mainly due to smoking habits. In these health policies, different recommendations are given that include advising smoking cessation. Moreover, providing both primary and secondary supports from local care settings to everyone who smokes regularly is necessary. As stated by Hu et al. (2017), local policymakers and administration need to provide greater emphasis on deprived communities such as minority ethnic groups. Different needs of these minor communities must be fulfilled for improving their physical and mental health.

Misuse of drinking alcohol is another essential cause of premature death other than smoking and bad nutrition. The NICE policies recommended the main executives of local administration to prioritize the prevention of drinking to save the local population (Nice.org.uk, 2014). Commissioners of administration need to make proper strategies, which include screening and brief interventions for vulnerable communities. Those people need to be given proper guidance to leave the bad habit of consuming alcohol. This can be done by briefing them on the harmful impacts of consuming alcohol. Both adults, disadvantaged and youths need to be included under this policy of local administration. On the other hand, Fisher et al. (2017) contradicted that lack of planned physical activity is another essential cause of premature mortality. The policies of NICE consist of another recommendation of creating plans for physical activity. The local government must create different safe places for facilitating the physical activity of local communities. As stated by Pope et al. (2016), lack of proper physical activity creates many diseases among youths and adults. This includes obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, consumption of excessive junk foods, alcohol, and an unplanned diet often causes many non-communicable diseases. Many fatal issues like stroke may happen due to obesity and high blood pressure. A strategic approach is recommended for controlling this problem. Linking the motives of health and wellbeing boards with disease prevention activities targeting people who are at high risk can help to control deaths. Moreover, the strategy needs to be sustainable for more than 5 years of time. In addition, resources need to be allocated in all stages of planning and evaluation. Local administration ensured that the prevention process consists of multi-component interventions that target the entire population. For example, designing a prevention program that comprises of local policies and different regulatory initiatives is required.   

Anti-Obesity Campaigns

One of the objectives of the United Nations is “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” For achieving this objective, different countries have adopted various evidence-based policies and campaigns. Moreover, Maniecka-BryÅ‚a et al. (2018) stated that the organization of intervention for prevention and health promotion has been done. Different likes like France have viewed a large number of premature deaths, which has caused due to smoking, poor diet, and environmental hazards. In 2016, tobacco control policies were intervened in this country that has helped to reduce smoking habits and smoking-related deaths. The French government has framed different guidelines that can ensure proper implementation of policies to improve public health and achievement of goals. These guidelines can be followed by the local administration to achieve success by the intervention of premature deaths. Firstly, the local administrator needs to identify innovative preventive measures and apply technologies that can be able to address common risks that cause premature mortality. Secondly, concerned government authorities need to adopt prop[er methodologies, which can help them to assess the complex interventions and judge, which intervention is working properly. As opined by Naimi et al. (2019), proper assessment of intervention helps an organization to address public health issues in a proper way and gain desired objectives. Thirdly, it is the duty of government authorities to characterize and identify health systems and organizations that can implement the interventions successfully and sustainability can be maintained. This is a very essential step because the interventions need to be promoted properly to increase knowledge about premature mortality among the common mass. Price et al. (2016) contradicted that choosing organizations that are not eligible can cause the failure of the intervention or health promotion process. Moreover, inequalities can occur while the distribution of health services. Fourthly, it is the duty of the government to ensure that interventions must be effective and promoted equally. This can help to prevent premature death rather than increasing it. Fifthly, the administration needs to constructively overcome the tries from vested interests to discredit researchers and their analysis when they identify a threat. This can impact on the process of implementing interventions to reduce deaths at an early age. Lastly, government authorities need to provide continuous and adequate funding for this type of research. His can help to reduce the complexity of interventions and different areas can be identified where interventions need to be implemented. Continuous research can help to plan effectively and different advanced interventions plan can be found through the help of research. In France, national strategies for health research have been given the charge to identify prevention strategies as the priority. Moreover, this same organization has been given the charge to raise adequate funds to offer high-quality prevention strategies to the target population.

Maintaining Normal Blood Pressure

The increase of green space is a great intervention that can reduce premature death to a greater extent and improve public health. As stated by Baker et al. (2016), half of the world's population resides in urban areas and cities. These areas lack green spaces and affected by pollution. This impacts health and causes many diseases like respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic syndrome. Many studies have found that increment of greeneries around homes can reduce premature mortality. 0.1% increase of greenery around 500 meters of homes can reduce the premature death percentage by 4. The increase of green space helps to reduce the impact of air pollution. Thus, fresh air can be made available to breathe in and thus cardiovascular disease and respiratory troubles can be eliminated (Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2015). The government can implement urban greening programs to increase knowledge of local communities regarding the benefits of greenery and its impact on life. Moreover, Pryor et al. (2017) contradicted that local communities can be involved in the program and funds need to be made available by the government. Thus, green infrastructure in the city can be increased and death at and =early can be reduced successfully.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the premature mortality rate can be reduced by educating people about the ways of being healthy and fit. The government of various countries has taken several initiatives to improve the quality of health. It has been found that the rate of premature deaths is higher in developing low-income countries. Among all of the countries, the UK government has taken more initiatives to remove this issue from the community. They are providing their best effort to provide equal access to healthcare to all people. On the other hand, they are controlling the alcohol strategy of the country. Australia is also taking similar initiatives. It is important for all of the countries of this planet to work on this issue and reduce the rate of premature mortality. People need to cooperate with the government by leaving unhealthy habits to live longer and stay healthy. Hence, it can be stated that premature mortality can be tackled if people improve their lifestyle towards a healthier one.

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