World Health Organization

About: World Health Organization is a government organization based out in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 13330 authors who have published 22232 publications receiving 1322023 citations. The organization is also known as: World Health Organisation & WHO.

Defining and measuring health inequality: an approach based on the distribution of health expectancy.

Abstract: This paper proposes an approach to conceptualizing and operationalizing the measurement of health inequality, defined as differences in health across individuals in the population. We propose that health is an intrinsic component of well-being and thus we should be concerned with inequality in health, whether or not it is correlated with inequality in other dimensions of well-being. In the measurement of health inequality, the complete range of fatal and non-fatal health outcomes should be incorporated. This notion is operationalized through the concept of healthy lifespan. Individual health expectancy is preferable, as a measurement, to individual healthy lifespan, since health expectancy excludes those differences in healthy lifespan that are simply due to chance. In other words, the quantity of interest for studying health inequality is the distribution of health expectancy across individuals in the population. The inequality of the distribution of health expectancy can be summarized by measures of individual/mean differences (differences between the individual and the mean of the population) or inter-individual differences. The exact form of the measure to summarize inequality depends on three normative choices. A firmer understanding of people's views on these normative choices will provide a basis for deliberating on a standard WHO measure of health inequality.

The role of environment in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Abstract: Purpose : This paper provides a framework for understanding the impact of environmental factors on functioning when a person has a health condition. This understanding provides the rationale for including environmental factors in WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Method and Results : This conceptual paper uses a review format to provide, firstly, an historical perspective on the integration of environmental factors into the understanding of disability and the ICF; secondly, a description of the overall ICF and, specifically, the environmental factors section; and thirdly, an overview of the interaction of a person with a health condition and the environment in which they live, and the outcome of disability. Conclusions : The ICF is a classification that allows a comprehensive and detailed description of a person's experience of disability, including the environmental barriers and facilitators that have an impact on a person's functioning. The recognition of th...

Hookworms, Malaria and Vitamin A Deficiency Contribute to Anemia and Iron Deficiency among Pregnant Women in the Plains of Nepal

Abstract: Anemia and iron deficiency during pregnancy are prevalent in developing countries, but their causes are not always known. We assessed the prevalence and severity of anemia and iron deficiency and their association with helminths, malaria and vitamin A deficiency in a community-based sample of 336 pregnant women in the plains of Nepal. Hemoglobin, erythrocyte protoporphyrin (EP) and serum ferritin were assessed in venous blood samples. Overall, 72.6% of women were anemic (hemoglobin 70 micromol/mol heme or serum ferritin < 10 microg/L). Eighty-eight percent of cases of anemia were associated with iron deficiency. More than half of the women (54.2%) had a low serum retinol concentration (<1.05 micromol/L), 74.2% were infected with hookworms and 19.8% had Plasmodium vivax malaria parasitemia. Hemoglobin, EP and serum ferritin concentrations were significantly worse and the prevalence of anemia, elevated EP and low serum ferritin was increased with increasing intensity of hookworm infection. Hookworm infection intensity was the strongest predictor of iron status, especially of depleted iron stores. Low serum retinol was most strongly associated with mild anemia, whereas P. vivax malaria and hookworm infection intensity were stronger predictors of moderate to severe anemia. These findings reinforce the need for programs to consider reducing the prevalence of hookworm, malaria infection and vitamin A deficiency where indicated, in addition to providing iron supplements to effectively control anemia.

Global environmental change and health: impacts, inequalities, and the health sector

Abstract: Human pressures on the environment are damaging the world’s biophysical and ecological systems. A J McMichael and colleagues discuss the resulting unequal effects on health and set out strategies to help prevent and lessen the harm