Improving and protecting the health of the public, including individuals, populations, and communities is summed up as health promotion.
Around the world, the health status of people in rural areas is normally worse than those in urban areas. Critical factors in the relationship between poverty and health being population and environmental health issues.
With the concentration of poverty and low health status resulting in high burden of disease in rural areas, there is a need to focus on improving the health of people in such areas.
The World Health Organization International Development Programme has highlighted this, with specific objectives for policies and action that promote sustainable livelihoods, including better education, health and opportunities for rural people.
These objectives seek to lower child and maternal mortality, and improve basic healthcare for all. Achievement of this is linked to protection and better management of the physical and natural environment.
Studies have shown that rural communities in Kenya experience higher rates of mortality and disability than communities in urban regions. This has been attributed to limited access to health promotion; higher poverty rates, which can make it difficult for participants to pay for services or programmes; cultural and social norms surrounding health behaviours; linguistic and educational disparities; low health literacy levels and incomplete perceptions of health, among others.
In 1978 a ‘Health for All’ programme was enunciated through the Declaration of Alma Ata.
The Declaration of Alma Ata stated that: “Governments have a responsibility for the health of their people which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures. . . . Primary Health Care is the key to attaining this target as part of development in the spirit of social justice. Primary Health Care is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and community with the national health system bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work and constitutes the first level of a continuing health care process. Primary Health Care addresses the main health problems in the community providing promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services accordingly”.
Disease prevention together with health promotion are achieved through programmes designed to improve the health outcomes. These programmes can educate and empower individuals to make healthier choices and reduce the risk of disease. They can also eliminate health disparities, improve quality of life, and improve the availability of healthcare and related services to the population.
Epidemiologist
