"Two roads diverged in a wood and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference."
- Robert Frost 1920
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference."
- Robert Frost 1920
“I slept and dreamed that life was a joy. I awoke up and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy” - Rabindranath Tagore
Surinder Kaul
New Updates (Start of new series):
Several articles were published on "This week" since July 2018, and remain accessible under Home > Old Items.
New series of subjects consolidated into one comprehensive article are listed as published.
If you find this site thought provoking, please share it with others and disseminate for the wider good of our planet Earth.
NB: This site was first published in July 2018. I would very much welcome any feedback for its continued improvements. Kindly go to the last page, Get in Touch, and complete a short survey. Thanks.
Several articles were published on "This week" since July 2018, and remain accessible under Home > Old Items.
New series of subjects consolidated into one comprehensive article are listed as published.
If you find this site thought provoking, please share it with others and disseminate for the wider good of our planet Earth.
- Health Education in Schools. August 9, 2020. Updated October 6th, following comments from Euan Lindsay-Smith (below)
- Public Private Partnership and Implementation of the Public Health Action Plan, Nam Theun 2, Laos 2005-2013. (Under Old Items July 27, 2020)
- Power of Information, June 4, 2020.
- Urban Skies under the spell of COVID-19 -- by Trisha Das (August 10, 2020) Other Interests > Photography > Urban Skies
- Jeffery Robinson, on racial justice. Food for thought https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPGpE-sXh0
- Spring is here (3 May 2020) Other Interests > Bird Watching > Spring is here...
- Hug Farm > Bird watching Under other interests > Bird Watching > Lesser Whistling-ducks in Chiang Mai. (Updated on 14 Jan 2021)
- Feel of Srilanka > Other Interests > Travelling (13-27 January, 2020);
- Fauna in Srilanks > Other Interests > Bird watching
- North Sumatra (November 4, 2019)
NB: This site was first published in July 2018. I would very much welcome any feedback for its continued improvements. Kindly go to the last page, Get in Touch, and complete a short survey. Thanks.
Public Health Consultant
I am a public health physician with special interest in mother and child. Literature is full of evidence that if a girl child is nurtured with love and care, she grows into a woman, who in turn transfers the same love to her children; eventually responsible adults emerge contributing to a just society.
Public health has fascinated me. It is a hobby to me, not just a job. I can't believe I will ever have to retire!
The sole purpose of this website is to share my life’s experiences in Public Health with the hope that visitors to site may find some useful information for their own endeavors. An opportunity may also arise for a dialogue on some of the issues and possibility of further development of ideas and the solutions.
I was born and grew up in the Indian Himalayas, studied in Christian Medical College, Vellore, South India. I am fortunate to have worked as a public health consultant in more than 12 countries for the past 46 years. Presently, I work as a public health adviser to Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, Maseru, Lesotho.
I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Part of the reason for engaging in this exercise is also to keep my mind occupied with all past experiences; and how it may influence the present and the future, which belongs to the generations to come.
Public health has fascinated me. It is a hobby to me, not just a job. I can't believe I will ever have to retire!
The sole purpose of this website is to share my life’s experiences in Public Health with the hope that visitors to site may find some useful information for their own endeavors. An opportunity may also arise for a dialogue on some of the issues and possibility of further development of ideas and the solutions.
I was born and grew up in the Indian Himalayas, studied in Christian Medical College, Vellore, South India. I am fortunate to have worked as a public health consultant in more than 12 countries for the past 46 years. Presently, I work as a public health adviser to Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, Maseru, Lesotho.
I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Part of the reason for engaging in this exercise is also to keep my mind occupied with all past experiences; and how it may influence the present and the future, which belongs to the generations to come.
This week: Old Items: Home > Old Items.
Health Education in Schools
Introduction
Health illiteracy problem in the USA has been described as a silent epidemic.[1] European health literacy survey (HLS-EU) also found that on average, every second person surveyed showed limited health literacy and recommended that health literacy is an important priority on the EU agenda.[2] Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are following expensive illness care model with little attention to health education and prevention. Preventive programmes are largely vertical with little effort to comprehensive primary health care and universal health coverage is seldom complete. Linking health illiteracy to disease and how increasing understanding of health issues and causes of common illnesses, can transform health status of populations.
Public health training and education have existed for over a century, yet there is little systematic evidence on whether current approaches prepare graduates to improve health by developing, evaluating and implementing effective and equity-oriented public health programmes.[3] A proper health literacy measurement tool should take into account the multitude of social, personal, and cognitive skills that are imperative for proper function within a health-care system. Poor understanding of cause and effect of ill health is associated with worse health care and poorer health outcomes. It is also important to recognise the extent to which people are vulnerable, or are at risk from available treatment.
Whilst parents have a critical role in instilling in their children good habits regarding healthy living and prevention from ill health, there are a number of health issues parents themselves are ignorant or find it difficult to teach their children, especially the teenagers. School becomes an important setting to address that, as merely reading and writing skills does not equate for a measure of individual’s ability to health literacy.
One definition that was adopted by the Health Literacy Conference Report in Europe defines health literacy as the ability to make sound health decisions in the context of everyday life at home, in the community, at the workplace, the healthcare system, the market place and the political arena.[4] According to WHO, “Improving health literacy in populations provides the foundation on which citizens are enabled to play an active role in improving their own health, engage successfully with community action for health, and push governments to meet their responsibilities in addressing health and health equity. Efforts to raise health literacy will be crucial in whether the social, economic and environmental ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are fully realized”.[5]
Continued on link Health Education in Schools
Discussion on the article is encouraged.
This page will continue to discuss public health issues in future articles.
Please write to: mail@surinderkaul.com
Introduction
Health illiteracy problem in the USA has been described as a silent epidemic.[1] European health literacy survey (HLS-EU) also found that on average, every second person surveyed showed limited health literacy and recommended that health literacy is an important priority on the EU agenda.[2] Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are following expensive illness care model with little attention to health education and prevention. Preventive programmes are largely vertical with little effort to comprehensive primary health care and universal health coverage is seldom complete. Linking health illiteracy to disease and how increasing understanding of health issues and causes of common illnesses, can transform health status of populations.
Public health training and education have existed for over a century, yet there is little systematic evidence on whether current approaches prepare graduates to improve health by developing, evaluating and implementing effective and equity-oriented public health programmes.[3] A proper health literacy measurement tool should take into account the multitude of social, personal, and cognitive skills that are imperative for proper function within a health-care system. Poor understanding of cause and effect of ill health is associated with worse health care and poorer health outcomes. It is also important to recognise the extent to which people are vulnerable, or are at risk from available treatment.
Whilst parents have a critical role in instilling in their children good habits regarding healthy living and prevention from ill health, there are a number of health issues parents themselves are ignorant or find it difficult to teach their children, especially the teenagers. School becomes an important setting to address that, as merely reading and writing skills does not equate for a measure of individual’s ability to health literacy.
One definition that was adopted by the Health Literacy Conference Report in Europe defines health literacy as the ability to make sound health decisions in the context of everyday life at home, in the community, at the workplace, the healthcare system, the market place and the political arena.[4] According to WHO, “Improving health literacy in populations provides the foundation on which citizens are enabled to play an active role in improving their own health, engage successfully with community action for health, and push governments to meet their responsibilities in addressing health and health equity. Efforts to raise health literacy will be crucial in whether the social, economic and environmental ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are fully realized”.[5]
Continued on link Health Education in Schools
Discussion on the article is encouraged.
This page will continue to discuss public health issues in future articles.
Please write to: mail@surinderkaul.com