Critical Issues in Health

Healthy People 2010 is an initiative started by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in January 2000. It is a program that has 467 specific objectives, 28 goals (focus areas) and two overachieving goals to serve as a framework for improving the health of all people during the first decade of the 21st century. The two overachieving goals of this program are meant to serve as a guide in the development of objectives that will be used to measure the progress. The goals are: Goal 1: Increase Quality and Years of Healthy Life and Goal 2: Eliminate Health Disparities.

The first goal is a general goal that targets the entire population. It is to help people of all ages, sex, and race live longer and improve their quality of life. The second goal is more focused on segments of the population. Six major factors contribute to the disparities that this goal is targeting and they are gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, and sexual orientation.

One focus area that is important to me is diabetes. Diabetes has been affecting my family for many generations. My mother has it, my grandfather had it, and from what my mother tells me my great-grandfather had it as well. I have a different form of blood glucose condition call hypoglycemia which is related to diabetes. Instead of having high level of sugar, I suffer from low blood glucose levels. This is dangerous because when my blood sugar goes below a certain point, I start experiencing severe pain, if not treated my body can go into shock. Death or brain damage can result if I don’t receive immediate attention. Fortunately the last time I experienced an episode my mother was their to help me. To avoid these symptoms I always need to have foods that are high in sugar like candy or orange juice throughout the day. Although hypoglycemia is closely related to diabetes, physicians still do not have a complete understanding of the condition. Because of my family history, I am still likely to develop type 1 diabetes.

There are 20.8 million children and adults in the United State who have diabetes. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) it is the 6th leading cause of death. The economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was 132billion dollars, that’s one out of every 10 health care dollars spent. This disease not only affects those who have it, but affects all of humanity

According to the focus area in Health People 2010, there are four transition points to reduce the health and economic burden of diabetes in this focus group. The first transition point is primary prevention. This approach is to avoid the development of the disease by promoting a healthier lifestyle. The second transition point is screening/early diagnosis; this is to have the patient recognize the disease and start treating it before it starts affecting the patients health. Access to care is the third transition point. This gives the patient access to medication for the treatment of the disease. The fourth is the quality of care, this allows the patient to have adequate supervised care as oppose to inadequate care.

There are large disparities in the rates of diabetes. In general the white non-Hispanics, females and people with higher levels of education are found to be least like to have the disease. American Indian or Alaska native are found to have the worst rate of diabetes of all groups. People with higher level of education are fond to also be least likely to have diabetes across the board. This shows that even if you are in a group with