Health Education in Context: An Overview and Some Observations

Despite enormous advances in health and medicine in recent times, significant challenges still exist, especially in developing countries where resources are often limited. Since the advent and recognition of HIV/AIDS in 1981, the disease has spread to infect more than 33.3 million people worldwide, with the greatest incidence of infection occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (United Nations, 2010). The enormous social and economic toll that this epidemic exacts on countries means that it tends to receive a high profile in the media. However, HIV/AIDS sometimes overshadows other important health issues of much longer standing. For example, more than one billion people are infected with soil transmitted helminthes, for example, hookworms, while about 200 million people are infected with parasitic waterborne worms (schistosomes), which cause the chronic and debilitating disease known as bilharzias (Focusing Resources on Effective School Health, 2011). About 225 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide in 2009, with associated deaths of about 781,000 people, many of whom were children from sub-Saharan Africa (World Health Organization, 2010a). Much of the disease burden in developing countries is associated with wider problems, including poor environmental hygiene, poverty, and inadequately resourced or staffed health services (World Health Organization, 2010b). Furthermore, the growing middle class in many developing countries is associated with the emergence of more chronic health issues related to lifestyle choices. ... A considerable body of research highlights the relationship between children's health and their social and educational outcomes. The literature also notes the reciprocal benefits of access to quality education on individual and family health status (see, for example, Basch, 2010). While medical advances can play a significant role in improving health outcomes, education at the school and community level is also crucial in promoting the measures that are so important in preventing and thereby reducing the incidence of many diseases and other health problems. Against this background, this book explores developments in health education in the formal and non-formal sectors of non-Western countries (loosely interpreted to include countries outside of the English-speaking block of the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). The intention is to provide the reader with a picture of the developments that are taking place in health education across a range of countries and about which little has been written.