HEALTH

INTRODUCTION:

While studying and referring to community medicine, the most oft used word is ‘health’.
The word health is a general term which has been defined by the World Health
Organization (WHO) as;

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.”

Health is quite a vast terminology and embodies within it many aspects of a sound and
healthy life, such as, the social, spiritual, physical and mental domains. Each one of
these aspects serve as a separate dimension for further explaining health and making it
easy to analyze and interpret it. A generalized account describing all these dimensions
is given below:

 Physical dimension;
This domain refers to the subjects that are necessary for keeping the body fit.
The two important prerequisites for ensuring a physically healthy body are to
consume a balanced diet and pairing it up sufficient exercise and sleep.
 Intellectual or mental dimension;
This aspect of health involves the body creativity and skill to be utilized for
positive purposes. In order to ensure an intellectually fit body, one needs to
practice intellectual activities and expand his knowledge on a regular basis.
 Emotional and social dimension;
This domain ensures that a person is socially and emotionally sound while
interacting with his surroundings and fellow beings.
 Spiritual dimension;
This aspect of being healthy is of immense importance because it is responsible
for providing a sense of direction and providing a purpose to life.
 Occupational dimension;
This dimension makes sure that a person in addition to enjoying a healthy life
also utilizes his resources into something productive. Plus occupational domain
helps a man to deal with stress and anxiety while remaining healthy.

LITERARY REVIEW:
The World Health Organization gives a report on yearly basis that encompasses all the
aspects regarding to the maintenance of health globally. According to the most recent
survey conducted in 2011 by the united nations, the world population has been
estimated to be 7 billion out of which in the year 2015, according to WHO, 56.4 million
people died as a rough yearly estimate. The two major causes of people dying were
deduced to ischaemic heart diseases and stroke. Both of these accounted for 15 million
deaths out of the total and have remained to be the leading two causes of death since
the past 15 years. Some other diseases that are accounted to be among the top 10
health risk factors are; chronic obstructive pulmonary illness, lung cancer, diabetes,
lower respiratory tract infections, diarrhoeal disease, tuberculosis, Alzheimer disease,
AIDS and road injuries. According to a report compiled by WHO, the African and South-
East Asian regions account for the highest number of children falling victim to food and
waterborne diseases. The general life expectancy for people born in 2015 in South-East
Asian regions is 75 years for males and 79 for females according to the latest survey.

While focusing on Pakistan in particular, the total population in 2013 in thousands was
estimated to be 182143 with 33.9% individuals fewer than 25 years of age and 6.5%
over 60. The rank of Pakistan out of the total 186 countries of Human Developmental
Index is 146. The mortality rate recorded for under five per 1000 live births (2013) was
86[73-101] and the maternal mortality rate per 100000 live births (2013) was 170[93-
320]. The total expenditure on health purposes was 2.8% of the total GDP IN 2013.
Since waterborne and food borne diseases are quite common in Pakistan, it is important
to improve the health facilities relating to cleaner water and sanitation facilities. In order
to improve the health crisis prevailing in many regions of the country, it is important to
increase the amount of GDP spent upon the improvement of health facilities. The need
for introducing communicable diseases control programs is increasing day by day. In
addition to this the control of tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria. Hepatitis is also of prime
importance. Furthermore, the standards of health can be improved by focusing on all
the basic dimensions of ‘health’ and introducing, health policy systems and
developmental techniques. By improving all these aspects the quality of health and the
basic necessities of ensuring a healthy lifestyle can be achieved.

REFRENCES:

1. health [Internet]. WHO. [cited 2017Jan31]. Available from:

http://who.int/about/definition/en/print.html
2. Dimensions of Health [Internet]. MD-Health.com. 2013 [cited 2017Jan31].
Available from: http://www.md-health.com/Dimensions-Of-Health.html
3. Nation T. Healthcare in Pakistan [Internet]. The Nation. 2015 [cited
2017Jan31]. Available from: http://nation.com.pk/business/13-Apr-
2015/healthcare-in-pakistan
4. Healthcare in Pakistan [Internet]. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation; [cited
2017Jan31]. Available from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Pakistan
5. Planning Commission Report on Universal Health Coveraga [Internet].
Scribd. Scribd; [cited 2017Jan31]. Available from:
https://www.scribd.com/document/201993848/Planning-Commission-
Report-on-Universal-Health-Coveraga