Abstract
The paper briefly describes the UN goals for sustainable development and focuses on its third goal related to health issues which are presented as being associated with psychological condition of an individual. The key point of the latter statement consists in that mental condition and physical health of people are interdependent and decline of physical state will definitely cause degradation of mental health of an individual. The paper also briefly reviews the main organizations which work on health issues together with the UN describing some of their projects. In conclusion, the author suggests some ideas for new projects which can be realized within the UN program.
Key words: sustainable development, mortality, health psychology, interdependence, vaccination, improvement.
Introduction
In 2015 the United Nations announced 17 goals for sustainable development which are aimed to prosperity, end of poverty and protection of the planet (Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to transform our World). They include eradication of poverty and hunger, healthier lives, affordable quality education, women and men equality, clean water preservation and sanitation, sustainable economic growth and decent work for all, industrial development and innovations, reduction of inequalities, development of cities and communities, responsible consumption and manufacturing, climate protection, preserving life on land and below water, maintenance of peace, justice and strong institutions and providing partnership for all these goals (Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to transform our World).
Goal # 3
We have chosen the Goal # 3 which is defined as “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” (Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to transform our World). This goal is supposed to be achieved by reducing child and maternal deaths and eradicating terminal-illnesses like HIV, AIDS, malaria and others. According to the UN’s experts, this goal is closely connected to some other aims such as quality of education, end of poverty and gender equality since statistical data evidence that children born in poor and uneducated families are more at risk of death than those who live in wealth and whose parents are educated (Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to transform our World). The same facts are revealed in relation to maternal death and other diseases: more educated and wealthy people are, more they are aware of treatments methods, more responsible they are for their lives and ones of their children. Apart from struggling with the above mentioned problems, the UN states a number of other health related issues of utmost importance such as: stopping premature mortality, prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, reduction of road accidents and death caused by pollution and contamination (Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to transform our World ).The achievement of all these goals relies on improving people’s health and the quality of life in developing countries, in particular providing an affordable vaccination for all in a timely manner, recruitment and education of medical personnel and investing into health and inventions of new vaccines.
Health Psychology
It is interesting how health correlates with psychology. The science which is concerned with this correlation is known as health psychology. According to its studies, our physical health is determined by our mental condition and vice versa. For instance, if an individual is always under stress and depression, his immune system will be considerably weakened so that he or she will be more exposed to the risk of a disease development. In the contrary, someone whose physical
Cooperation for health
It should be noted that one of the UN’s missions consists in involving in its activities a large number of various organizations and people who help to achieve its goals. In the case of the goal at hand such organizations are presented by World Health Organization, UNICEF, UN Children’s Fund, UN Children’s Fund, UNAIDS, UN Population Fund, UNFPA HIV & AIDS and some others. All these agencies are working together with the UN on solving key problems in order to achieve the goals. For instance, World Health Organization has elaborated “Global Action Plan for Influenza Vaccines (GAP)” which consists in increasing vaccination in most dangerous seasons (seasonal vaccination), providing access to vaccines for all people at all age and carrying out studies on new effective vaccines (World Health Organization: Global action plan for influenza vaccines). Another powerful organization –UNICEF – is contributing to overall immunization and improvement of medical care for pregnant women and their new-born
children by its worldwide presence and cooperation with governments and local authorities (UNICEF: Health). All these organizations report their projects as being effective and successful since they considerably decrease the level of mortality and improve the quality of life in developing regions.
Conclusion
Health related issues are relevant since they determine the length of human life which is considered as the most valuable thing in the world. Therefore the activities carried out by the UN, UNICEF, WHO and other similar organizations in this field are of utmost importance. In addition to the above mentioned projects, an awareness campaign may have a positive effect on both people who need help and people who can help. The information containing appeals for help may be spread on the Internet and aimed to people from developed countries, in particular business owners and other better-off citizens who are capable to donate and help financially. It also may be distributed among students who will be able to render volunteer assistance. As for those who need help, the information containing instructions on how to get it should be transmitted orally or by the way of leaflets and brochure since most of such people do not have access to the Internet and sometimes cannot read and do not speak English so all the information must be translated in their native language. In addition to the awareness campaign some local services may be arranged in order to consult people in need on coping with their financial, social, educational and health problems.
References
MacDonald, Ch.,A. What is Health Psychology? Retrieved from: http://healthpsychology.org/what-is-health-psychology/
Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to transform our World. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/
UNICEF: Health. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/health/
World Health Organization: Global action plan for influenza vaccines. Retrieved from: http://who.int/influenza_vaccines_plan/objectives/en/
