Teaching basic health practices

Furnishing basic health knowledge

Description

Teaching sanitation, nutrition, disease prevention and basic practices of good health.

Context

Health education is provided by all countries to various extents. It has played an important role in the early part of the 20th century in the control of epidemics, protection of mothers and children, the control of social diseases, the improvement in sanitation and the prevention of occupational diseases and injuries.

Implementation

In practice, health education is presented to the general public through lectures, posters, publications, radio, movies, and television. It is also taught in schools and universities. As a branch of science, it incorporates not only the medical disciplines but also sociology, psychology and pedagogy.

Claim

Public awareness of the conditions necessary for a healthy existence can lead to reduced treatment costs, early detection of serious diseases, awareness of proper diet, exercise and hygienic practices and improved quality of life over a longer period. In the places with an extreme shortage of medical services, health education could lead to general reduction of disease through improvements in the practices in the home that contribute to good health.

Counter-claim

Focus on the conditions for longer, healthier life can take attention away from other social issues which arise from increasingly aged populations. Health education by itself, in the absence of medical services, can contribute to unrealistic demands among the population of a developing country.