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Sexuality
Sexuality is often defined simply in terms of sex, but sexuality encompasses many different aspects of our lives beyond just sex alone. Sexuality is determined in part by our genetics and in part by the social expression of our underlining heredity and interaction with others. Three common ways in which sexuality has been described are in terms of: sexual behavior, sexual orientation, and sexual identity. However sexuality like many other aspects of our lives can be best understood holistically whereby both the internal (i.e. sexual identity, sexual orientation, etc.) and external (i.e. gender socialization, voluntary celibacy, etc.) factors that influence sexuality can be addressed.
The majority of educational resources available on sexuality focus on internal factors such as sexual behavior, sexual identity, and sexual orientation. These factors are important to sexuality given that they are responsible for influencing how we think, feel, and act out our unconscious expressions of sexuality. Although the internal factors related to sexuality are in part genetically determined (also referred to as biological determinism), human beings are rational beings and therefore have the ability to exercise choice in determining whether or not these internal factors get expressed publicly. Moreover, internal factors are not necessarily static and thus can change over time as we age and experience new places, situations, and people.
However what often gets neglected in discussions on sexuality is a dialogue on the diversity of external influences on sexuality. The most well known external influence on sexuality is gender socialization, which occurs in almost all aspects of our community including our family, school, media, and even politics. Some external influences that are less often associated to the development and expression of sexuality are sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, the presence of conflict or war, and spirituality, which could be thought of as both internally and externally influencing.
Of course the two greatest influencing factors on sexuality throughout history have been culture and religion. Culture is one of the central ways human beings define and express themselves including in terms of how we develop sexually. Cross-culturally sexuality means different things, and the expression of sexuality has different restrictions (or none at all) depending on where you go and who you talk to. Generally speaking, culture carries the most weight in sanctioning the expression, suppression, misuse, and even loving gesture of sexuality.
Despite what some people might think religion’s influence over sexuality is not about restrictions instead religion acts as a means by which sexuality can be channeled for the purposes of expression and even celebration. Although different religious doctrines propose a diversity of mandates when it comes to the ways in which sexuality should be channeled, most religions produce specifications on the basis of martial status, sex, and one’s personal spiritual growth.
Over the years as sexual expression has increased in many parts of the world so has the use of sexuality for the purposes of abuse. Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating youth, young adults, and adults on various means of prevention with concern to sexual violence (i.e. rape, sexual assault) and on the sharing of prevention strategies with the rest of the community. The ultimate goal of this organization is to erase the presence of violence in sexuality and to promote a world of sexual expression without fear of harm.
References
Asexual Visibility and Education Network
http://www.asexuality.org
Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com/)
Glossary
Biological determinism = the belief that human behaviors, thoughts, and even choices are controlled by their genetics.
Sexual behavior = a set of actions directed towards sexual ends (purposes).
Sexual identity = a descriptor used to refer to a collection of traits associated with an individual in terms of how they perceive themselves sexually.
Sexual orientation = reflects a preference for sexual expression towards another based on the sex of the other individual.
The majority of educational resources available on sexuality focus on internal factors such as sexual behavior, sexual identity, and sexual orientation. These factors are important to sexuality given that they are responsible for influencing how we think, feel, and act out our unconscious expressions of sexuality. Although the internal factors related to sexuality are in part genetically determined (also referred to as biological determinism), human beings are rational beings and therefore have the ability to exercise choice in determining whether or not these internal factors get expressed publicly. Moreover, internal factors are not necessarily static and thus can change over time as we age and experience new places, situations, and people.
However what often gets neglected in discussions on sexuality is a dialogue on the diversity of external influences on sexuality. The most well known external influence on sexuality is gender socialization, which occurs in almost all aspects of our community including our family, school, media, and even politics. Some external influences that are less often associated to the development and expression of sexuality are sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, the presence of conflict or war, and spirituality, which could be thought of as both internally and externally influencing.
Of course the two greatest influencing factors on sexuality throughout history have been culture and religion. Culture is one of the central ways human beings define and express themselves including in terms of how we develop sexually. Cross-culturally sexuality means different things, and the expression of sexuality has different restrictions (or none at all) depending on where you go and who you talk to. Generally speaking, culture carries the most weight in sanctioning the expression, suppression, misuse, and even loving gesture of sexuality.
Despite what some people might think religion’s influence over sexuality is not about restrictions instead religion acts as a means by which sexuality can be channeled for the purposes of expression and even celebration. Although different religious doctrines propose a diversity of mandates when it comes to the ways in which sexuality should be channeled, most religions produce specifications on the basis of martial status, sex, and one’s personal spiritual growth.
Over the years as sexual expression has increased in many parts of the world so has the use of sexuality for the purposes of abuse. Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating youth, young adults, and adults on various means of prevention with concern to sexual violence (i.e. rape, sexual assault) and on the sharing of prevention strategies with the rest of the community. The ultimate goal of this organization is to erase the presence of violence in sexuality and to promote a world of sexual expression without fear of harm.
References
Asexual Visibility and Education Network
http://www.asexuality.org
Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com/)
Glossary
Biological determinism = the belief that human behaviors, thoughts, and even choices are controlled by their genetics.
Sexual behavior = a set of actions directed towards sexual ends (purposes).
Sexual identity = a descriptor used to refer to a collection of traits associated with an individual in terms of how they perceive themselves sexually.
Sexual orientation = reflects a preference for sexual expression towards another based on the sex of the other individual.
Mental Health
There is no health without mental health.
Mental health is the positive balance of the social, physical, spiritual, economic and mental aspects of one’s life and is as important as physical health. When people are mentally healthy they are able to live productive daily activities, maintain fulfilling relationships with others, and have the ability to adapt to change and cope with stress.
Alternatively, mental illness is a psychological or behavioural phenomenon that leads to disorder or disability that is not part of normal development. Mental illness can occur when the brain (or part of the brain) is not working well or is working in the wrong way. When the brain is not working properly, one or more of its six functions will be disrupted (thinking or cognition, perception or sensing, emotion or feeling, signaling, physical functions and/or behavior). When these functions significantly disrupt a person’s life, we say that the person has a mental disorder or a mental illness.
The World Health Organization notes that “Mental health is as important as physical health to the overall well-being of individuals, societies and countries. Yet only a small minority of the 450 million people suffering from a mental or behavioural disorders are receiving treatment” (The World Health Report 2001, Chapter 1). The WHO also indicates that 15 to 20 per cent of young people worldwide suffer from a mental disorder that would benefit from mental-health treatment. Currently, neuropsychiatric disorders contribute to almost one-third of the global burden of disease in this age group.
While effective treatment for mental disorders is available, barriers including lack of health professionals, health care infrastructure, cost, as well as a strong and persistent stigma against people with mental disorders prevents millions of adults and youth from accessing and receiving the help they need to get well and say well.
The more we learn about mental health, the better we understand the impact that mental health problems can have on personal, social, civic and economic development. Addressing mental health problems early in life enhances the opportunity for young people to get well and stay well through adulthood, improving not only the lives of individuals and families, but also enhancing civil society increasing opportunity for socio-economic development and encouraging global acceptance of human and cultural diversity.
Mental health is a right, not a privilege. As global citizens it is important that we work together to provide the best care for people who are mentally ill and to ensure that physical and mental health are at the forefront of the international agenda.
Mental health is the positive balance of the social, physical, spiritual, economic and mental aspects of one’s life and is as important as physical health. When people are mentally healthy they are able to live productive daily activities, maintain fulfilling relationships with others, and have the ability to adapt to change and cope with stress.
Alternatively, mental illness is a psychological or behavioural phenomenon that leads to disorder or disability that is not part of normal development. Mental illness can occur when the brain (or part of the brain) is not working well or is working in the wrong way. When the brain is not working properly, one or more of its six functions will be disrupted (thinking or cognition, perception or sensing, emotion or feeling, signaling, physical functions and/or behavior). When these functions significantly disrupt a person’s life, we say that the person has a mental disorder or a mental illness.
The World Health Organization notes that “Mental health is as important as physical health to the overall well-being of individuals, societies and countries. Yet only a small minority of the 450 million people suffering from a mental or behavioural disorders are receiving treatment” (The World Health Report 2001, Chapter 1). The WHO also indicates that 15 to 20 per cent of young people worldwide suffer from a mental disorder that would benefit from mental-health treatment. Currently, neuropsychiatric disorders contribute to almost one-third of the global burden of disease in this age group.
While effective treatment for mental disorders is available, barriers including lack of health professionals, health care infrastructure, cost, as well as a strong and persistent stigma against people with mental disorders prevents millions of adults and youth from accessing and receiving the help they need to get well and say well.
The more we learn about mental health, the better we understand the impact that mental health problems can have on personal, social, civic and economic development. Addressing mental health problems early in life enhances the opportunity for young people to get well and stay well through adulthood, improving not only the lives of individuals and families, but also enhancing civil society increasing opportunity for socio-economic development and encouraging global acceptance of human and cultural diversity.
Mental health is a right, not a privilege. As global citizens it is important that we work together to provide the best care for people who are mentally ill and to ensure that physical and mental health are at the forefront of the international agenda.
Maternal Health & Child Mortality
Maternal Health and Infant Mortality: A Generation Later
Maternal health is intimately connected with the health of a child therefore when we define barriers to maternal health, we can at the same time predict barriers to child mortality. In the most general sense, maternal health and child mortality is described as a mother’s ability to eat healthy, to have access to safe reproductive strategies, to seek and have access to the appropriate medical services, and to get educated on how to ensure that their life and the life of their baby remains healthy.
Under the Millennium Development Goals, nations around the world have the opportunity to sign on to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by at least three quarters as soon as 2015 (www.unicef.org).
Motherless children tend to be at a greater risk of death than children with mothers. Thousands of women die during childbirth [from complications] every minute around world, and in sub-Saharan Africa where there is a 1 in 16th chance of a woman dying during childbirth (www.unicef.org). Yet many of the factors (i.e. unsafe child birthing conditions) that lead to maternal mortality are for the most part preventable. A mother who has access to safe and effective medical services also has a better chance of raising a child (under the age of five) that does not suffer from a potentially fatal sickness such as Acute Respiratory Infection or diarrhoea (D’Souza, 2003).
Moreover in a study by Gyimah, Takyi, & Addai (2006), researchers found that socio-economic factors, such as extreme poverty, was not one of the major predictors of maternal health and infant mortality, however religious and other very strong ideological beliefs were seen as more of a predictor of current disparities in the rates at which women seek reliable medical services.
Some of the factors that directly contribute to poor maternal health and high frequencies of child mortality are: '''Haemorrhage''', '''obstructed labour''', '''hypertensive''' disorders in pregnancy, unsafe abortion, birth-related disabilities, and nutritional deficiencies. At least 30% of women worldwide lack '''antenatal''' care with 34% originating from Sub-Saharan Africa and 46% from South Asia (www.unicef.org). Highly infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS put both mothers and their infants at a greater risk of long-term sickness and early mortality. Children left orphaned by HIV/AIDS are at a greater risk of dying in the first two years of becoming orphans than children with parents (www.unicef.org). High-risk deliveries also pose a major threat to child mortality such that each year about 8 million babies die worldwide during labour and delivery and remain at risk up until the infant’s first week of life (www.unicef.org).
Maternal health organizations around the world have narrowed down four effective intervention strategies that have played a significant part in improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. The most important intervention specified by organizations such as UNICEF is the availability of quality medical services pre- and post-birth. This includes better-trained traditional (i.e. midwife) and formal (i.e. doctor) health care providers and available emergency '''obstetrics'''. As well, improving maternal nutrition practices during and after pregnancy is a strong predictor of the quality of health a newborn baby or infant will have once they are born. In addition counselling for mothers with HIV/AIDS or other infectious diseases (i.e. malaria) ensures that safer practices are utilized during mother-to-infant contact (i.e. breastfeeding). Finally, secondary education for girls has been shown to significantly increase the likelihood that mothers will have healthier pre-natal pregnancies and increase the survival rate of newly born babies.
Maternal health is intimately connected with the health of a child therefore when we define barriers to maternal health, we can at the same time predict barriers to child mortality. In the most general sense, maternal health and child mortality is described as a mother’s ability to eat healthy, to have access to safe reproductive strategies, to seek and have access to the appropriate medical services, and to get educated on how to ensure that their life and the life of their baby remains healthy.
Under the Millennium Development Goals, nations around the world have the opportunity to sign on to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by at least three quarters as soon as 2015 (www.unicef.org).
Motherless children tend to be at a greater risk of death than children with mothers. Thousands of women die during childbirth [from complications] every minute around world, and in sub-Saharan Africa where there is a 1 in 16th chance of a woman dying during childbirth (www.unicef.org). Yet many of the factors (i.e. unsafe child birthing conditions) that lead to maternal mortality are for the most part preventable. A mother who has access to safe and effective medical services also has a better chance of raising a child (under the age of five) that does not suffer from a potentially fatal sickness such as Acute Respiratory Infection or diarrhoea (D’Souza, 2003).
Moreover in a study by Gyimah, Takyi, & Addai (2006), researchers found that socio-economic factors, such as extreme poverty, was not one of the major predictors of maternal health and infant mortality, however religious and other very strong ideological beliefs were seen as more of a predictor of current disparities in the rates at which women seek reliable medical services.
Some of the factors that directly contribute to poor maternal health and high frequencies of child mortality are: '''Haemorrhage''', '''obstructed labour''', '''hypertensive''' disorders in pregnancy, unsafe abortion, birth-related disabilities, and nutritional deficiencies. At least 30% of women worldwide lack '''antenatal''' care with 34% originating from Sub-Saharan Africa and 46% from South Asia (www.unicef.org). Highly infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS put both mothers and their infants at a greater risk of long-term sickness and early mortality. Children left orphaned by HIV/AIDS are at a greater risk of dying in the first two years of becoming orphans than children with parents (www.unicef.org). High-risk deliveries also pose a major threat to child mortality such that each year about 8 million babies die worldwide during labour and delivery and remain at risk up until the infant’s first week of life (www.unicef.org).
Maternal health organizations around the world have narrowed down four effective intervention strategies that have played a significant part in improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. The most important intervention specified by organizations such as UNICEF is the availability of quality medical services pre- and post-birth. This includes better-trained traditional (i.e. midwife) and formal (i.e. doctor) health care providers and available emergency '''obstetrics'''. As well, improving maternal nutrition practices during and after pregnancy is a strong predictor of the quality of health a newborn baby or infant will have once they are born. In addition counselling for mothers with HIV/AIDS or other infectious diseases (i.e. malaria) ensures that safer practices are utilized during mother-to-infant contact (i.e. breastfeeding). Finally, secondary education for girls has been shown to significantly increase the likelihood that mothers will have healthier pre-natal pregnancies and increase the survival rate of newly born babies.
HIV/AIDS
“When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment of a global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?” - Nelson Mandela
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus is transferred from person to person when an HIV positive individual’s blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk comes in contact with another person’s bloodstream (through the mouth, throat, or breaks in the skin). This viral infection usually occurs during unprotected sexual activity, but can also occur between an HIV/AIDS positive mother and her child, through an unsecure blood transfusion, and by sharing used needles.
Once infected it takes as long as 8 to 10 years for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to effectively breakdown the bodies’ natural immune defences, which leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS for short. Although scientists around the world have been working hard to obtain a cure or even a vaccine for the HIV, none are currently available.
According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2007), about 33.2 million people are infected with HIV worldwide (which is 16% lower than 2006 estimates. So, far 2.1 million people have lost their lives to AIDS. Youth are particularly at risk as young people between the ages of 15 to 24 account for more than 40% of new HIV infections. Young women are also more at risk for contracting HIV; three times more likely than males in Sub-Saharan Africa and almost two times more likely in the Caribbean.
The most devastating effect on the world’s youth, as a result of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus around the world, has been the alarming increase in the number of children and young people who have been orphaned by the disease. In 2007, there was an estimated 11.4 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new face of HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly global leadership or more importantly youth leadership and education. Youth leaders are raising their voices on the issue of HIV/AIDS all over the world while spreading a message of change and healing among their young peers. For example groups such as “The Young Women of Color Leadership Council” who are striving to educate at-risk youth of color on issues of HIV prevention and community leadership; “Youth Visioning” who aim to encourage and support young leaders living on small islands around the world to propose and implement projects that will effectively impact how youth experience and understand HIV/AIDS; and the “Rural Sensitization Campaign in Cameroon” who is actively challenging youth to learn and be trained on healthy sexual practices, HIV prevention and transmission, testing, and treatment, in addition to targeting young women and men, this campaign aims to involve parents and children HIV/AIDS educational programmes.
There are several other factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS, which include high levels of: Severe poverty, unemployment, inadequate medical care, and risky sexual activity. However an additional factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of stigma that becomes associated to people living with aids (PLWA) and who have openly revealed their HIV/AIDS status in their community. Stigma may result in isolation, physical and verbal abuse, and even in the premature death of PLWA. The spread of stigma among PLWA is preventable, but it requires the community and grassroots organizations to work together to minimize the fear and the overemphasis on the problems associated to HIV/AIDS when spreading awareness about the disease.
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus is transferred from person to person when an HIV positive individual’s blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk comes in contact with another person’s bloodstream (through the mouth, throat, or breaks in the skin). This viral infection usually occurs during unprotected sexual activity, but can also occur between an HIV/AIDS positive mother and her child, through an unsecure blood transfusion, and by sharing used needles.
Once infected it takes as long as 8 to 10 years for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to effectively breakdown the bodies’ natural immune defences, which leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS for short. Although scientists around the world have been working hard to obtain a cure or even a vaccine for the HIV, none are currently available.
According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2007), about 33.2 million people are infected with HIV worldwide (which is 16% lower than 2006 estimates. So, far 2.1 million people have lost their lives to AIDS. Youth are particularly at risk as young people between the ages of 15 to 24 account for more than 40% of new HIV infections. Young women are also more at risk for contracting HIV; three times more likely than males in Sub-Saharan Africa and almost two times more likely in the Caribbean.
The most devastating effect on the world’s youth, as a result of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus around the world, has been the alarming increase in the number of children and young people who have been orphaned by the disease. In 2007, there was an estimated 11.4 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new face of HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly global leadership or more importantly youth leadership and education. Youth leaders are raising their voices on the issue of HIV/AIDS all over the world while spreading a message of change and healing among their young peers. For example groups such as “The Young Women of Color Leadership Council” who are striving to educate at-risk youth of color on issues of HIV prevention and community leadership; “Youth Visioning” who aim to encourage and support young leaders living on small islands around the world to propose and implement projects that will effectively impact how youth experience and understand HIV/AIDS; and the “Rural Sensitization Campaign in Cameroon” who is actively challenging youth to learn and be trained on healthy sexual practices, HIV prevention and transmission, testing, and treatment, in addition to targeting young women and men, this campaign aims to involve parents and children HIV/AIDS educational programmes.
There are several other factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS, which include high levels of: Severe poverty, unemployment, inadequate medical care, and risky sexual activity. However an additional factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of stigma that becomes associated to people living with aids (PLWA) and who have openly revealed their HIV/AIDS status in their community. Stigma may result in isolation, physical and verbal abuse, and even in the premature death of PLWA. The spread of stigma among PLWA is preventable, but it requires the community and grassroots organizations to work together to minimize the fear and the overemphasis on the problems associated to HIV/AIDS when spreading awareness about the disease.
Diseases
Diseases: Curing attitudes of stigmatization
A disease is an illness that affects the body (a single area or the whole system) and/or mind within a single organism (World Health Organization). Basically when a person is in a diseased state, they are no longer classified by modern and traditional medical diagnosis as “healthy”. Some examples of common diseases worldwide are: Influenza A virus, Asthma, HIV/AIDS, HPV, Malaria, and Sickle Cell Anemia. In addition, diseases are generally classified into three categories, which include: Genetic, infectious, and non-infectious.
As is the case with most marginalized groups, people living with a disease(s) are often discriminated against on the basis of their illness. Some researchers have linked negative cultural perceptions of diseased individuals to the common occurrence of discrimination among the ill. The validity of the previous claim remains to be confirmed, however research has shown that cultural differences between the treatment of the ill within traditional and modern societies do exist.
One way to reduce stigma and discrimination of the ill is through education and improvement of community health services and networks. Yet stigma and discrimination of the ill has existed throughout human history in almost all societies and civilizations around the globe, so eradicating its practice is no easy task.
When some of us think of disease we immediately associate it with death and rarely associate disease with life. Although this may appear to be just a matter of commonsense, having a disease does not automatically mean a death sentence. In fact many people who have suffered from a debilitating illness have accredited their disease to teaching them the true meaning of survival. Disease-related advocacy campaigns around the world have focused on survival as their central theme and message because survival signifies hope not just for a future cure but also for life itself. In the end, whether we are diseased or healthy we are all fighting to survive.
In 2006 the World Heart Federation (WHF) leaped from the dreams of a handful of global youth leaders and partners into a fruitful reality as one of the leading disease advocacy organizations in the world specializing in youth advocacy. With chapters in several nations around the world, WHF has taken their advocacy projects from national to local levels of change. Some of their project areas include: Tobacco control, developing advocacy skills, and poor diets and physical inactivity.
Of course beyond the efforts of global civil society agents, youth have also been impacted negatively by disease as in the case of millions of orphans as a result of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, the hundreds of thousands of children who die each year from Malaria and other preventable diseases, and the growing number of acquired diseases among youth in heavily polluted developed nations. As young people we may not be immune to disease, but we can work to prevent discrimination of the ill and celebrate their survival.
References
Columbia Public Schools
http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/
LARS JACOBSSON. The roots of stigmatization. World Psychiatry. 2002 February; 1(1): 25.
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int
World heart Federation
http://www.world-heart-federation.org/what-we-do/children-youth/youth-health-advocacy/
Glossary
AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Genetic = the expression of genes at the cellular and somatic levels
HIV = Human Immune-deficiency Virus
HPV = Human Papilloma Virus
Infectious = the ability to be transmitted from on state, organism, or condition to another state, organism, or condition.
Non-infectious = refers to a property that prevents or inhibits the transmission from one state, organism, or condition to another state, organism, or condition.
(wiki)
A disease is an illness that affects the body (a single area or the whole system) and/or mind within a single organism (World Health Organization). Basically when a person is in a diseased state, they are no longer classified by modern and traditional medical diagnosis as “healthy”. Some examples of common diseases worldwide are: Influenza A virus, Asthma, HIV/AIDS, HPV, Malaria, and Sickle Cell Anemia. In addition, diseases are generally classified into three categories, which include: Genetic, infectious, and non-infectious.
As is the case with most marginalized groups, people living with a disease(s) are often discriminated against on the basis of their illness. Some researchers have linked negative cultural perceptions of diseased individuals to the common occurrence of discrimination among the ill. The validity of the previous claim remains to be confirmed, however research has shown that cultural differences between the treatment of the ill within traditional and modern societies do exist.
One way to reduce stigma and discrimination of the ill is through education and improvement of community health services and networks. Yet stigma and discrimination of the ill has existed throughout human history in almost all societies and civilizations around the globe, so eradicating its practice is no easy task.
When some of us think of disease we immediately associate it with death and rarely associate disease with life. Although this may appear to be just a matter of commonsense, having a disease does not automatically mean a death sentence. In fact many people who have suffered from a debilitating illness have accredited their disease to teaching them the true meaning of survival. Disease-related advocacy campaigns around the world have focused on survival as their central theme and message because survival signifies hope not just for a future cure but also for life itself. In the end, whether we are diseased or healthy we are all fighting to survive.
In 2006 the World Heart Federation (WHF) leaped from the dreams of a handful of global youth leaders and partners into a fruitful reality as one of the leading disease advocacy organizations in the world specializing in youth advocacy. With chapters in several nations around the world, WHF has taken their advocacy projects from national to local levels of change. Some of their project areas include: Tobacco control, developing advocacy skills, and poor diets and physical inactivity.
Of course beyond the efforts of global civil society agents, youth have also been impacted negatively by disease as in the case of millions of orphans as a result of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, the hundreds of thousands of children who die each year from Malaria and other preventable diseases, and the growing number of acquired diseases among youth in heavily polluted developed nations. As young people we may not be immune to disease, but we can work to prevent discrimination of the ill and celebrate their survival.
References
Columbia Public Schools
http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/
LARS JACOBSSON. The roots of stigmatization. World Psychiatry. 2002 February; 1(1): 25.
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int
World heart Federation
http://www.world-heart-federation.org/what-we-do/children-youth/youth-health-advocacy/
Glossary
AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Genetic = the expression of genes at the cellular and somatic levels
HIV = Human Immune-deficiency Virus
HPV = Human Papilloma Virus
Infectious = the ability to be transmitted from on state, organism, or condition to another state, organism, or condition.
Non-infectious = refers to a property that prevents or inhibits the transmission from one state, organism, or condition to another state, organism, or condition.
(wiki)
BETTER TO SLEEP ON IT
Sleep helps people carry out things they intend to do or their prospective memory, according to a study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. The theory goes that sleeping after you processed theintention strengthens the connection between weak cues and the intention. The strengthening of the prospective memory process appears to occur during slow wave sleep-one of the earlier sleep cycles.
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