Welcome | The Encyclopedia of World Problems

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Web Name: Welcome | The Encyclopedia of World Problems

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The rapidly changing state of the world makes planning in the face of complex interconnected problems a formidable challenge. Our ability to conceive adequate solutions and strategies is often undermined by our lack of understanding of the nature of problems in their wider context.  The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential offers a radically different perspective to associations, policy-makers, social researchers and those concerned with development strategy.  By clarifying the ways in which problems reinforce and sustain each other, the Encyclopedia shifts the level of attention from isolated problems to problem cycles, and thus to sustainable strategy cycles. This allows for a more holistic understanding of the environment in which global problems and strategies are situated.   Inadequate health services Nature: The degree of general health improvement achieved by public and private health services is not as high as might be desired. Although technical knowledge for achieving better health is available, in most countries this knowledge is not being put to the best advantage of the greatest number. Health resources are allocated mainly to sophisticated medical institutions in urban areas. Rather than better health for the average person, improvement of health tends to be equated with the provision of medical care dispensed by growing numbers of specialists, using narrow medical technologies for the benefit of the privileged few. At the same time, access of large segments of the world s population to health services is limited or non-existent; disadvantaged groups throughout the world have no access to any permanent form of health care. These groups probably total four-fifths of the world s population, living mainly in rural areas and urban slums.In some countries, even though health facilities are located within easy reach, inability to pay or cultural taboos put them out of bounds. To complicate matters, health systems are often devised outside the mainstream of social and economic development, frequently restricting themselves to medical care, although industrialization and deliberate alteration of the environment are creating health problems whose proper control lies far beyond the scope of medical care. Such services operate in an isolated manner, neglecting other factors contributing to human wellbeing such as education, communications, agriculture, social organization, community motivation and involvement. This ignores the fact that health cannot be attained by the health sector alone.In developing countries in particular, economic development, anti-poverty measures, food production, water, sanitation, housing, environmental protection and education all contribute to health and have the same goal of human development. The pace of technological and economic development requires an intensified release of human energy, placing heightened importance on physical stamina as a precondition. However, although the current diet upon which people exist may appear to be ample, it lacks the nutritional balance to sustain regular participation in a modernized society. In addition, a whole complex of issues such as safe water, refrigeration and basic hygiene remain relatively undeveloped and therefore continues to perpetuate illness that drains vitality. The sheer number of people in the care of one doctor, the remoteness of proper medical facilities and the high cost of treatment prevent early detection of disease; continuation of energy-draining low-grade infections results in either long-lasting or permanently chronic defects. The care of the physical well-being of rural people when called upon to make such efforts at development is a crucial factor that cannot be neglected. Broader Problems: Lack of careLack of planningDangerous countriesInadequate resources for healthWeakness of socio-economic infrastructureUncoordinated social services in urban areasInefficient public spending to alleviate povertyIneffective delivery of basic human resource servicesInsufficient government spending on cost-effective activities Narrower Problems: MisdiagnosisSurgical mistakesIatrogenic diseaseMedical complicationsInadequate dental careComplex health deliveryLack of medical recordsCurative health mindsetInadequacy of psychiatryInadequate health controlUnprofessional health careLack of medical informationProhibitive medical expensesMassive avoidable ill-healthInadequate medical facilitiesInsufficient health personnelDehumanization of health careInadequacy of medical scienceRestrictive medical practicesUnsafe blood-related productsInadequate primary health careFragmented care of drug addictsLanguage barriers to health careInadequate radiological servicesUnavailability of local dentistsNeglect of adolescent health careIrregular hospital transportationInadequate mental illness servicesInappropriate managed care regimesInaccessibility of health servicesOver-specialization in medical careInadequate health care in urban slumsInadequate emergency medical servicesDelay in administration of medical careInadequate occupational health servicesLimited availability of health resourcesDiscrimination against women in health careNon-surveillance of medical high risk personsInadequate health services following nuclear warDenial of adequate medical care to skilled labourExcessive exposure of medical patients to radiationResistance to incorporating midwives in medical care systemsInadequate working conditions in health and medical services Illiteracy Nature: Illiteracy is the inability to read and write. A person is defined as illiterate if he cannot, with understanding, both read and write a short and simple statement on his everyday life; and as functionally illiterate if he cannot engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for the effective functioning of his group and community, and also for enabling him to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his own and the community s development. Lack of such abilities prevents individuals from going about their daily activities in modern society, seeking suitable employment, or moving about normally with comprehension of the usual printed expressions and messages they encounter. Its consequences include inability to take up basic social services, fill in even simple forms, and understand traffic instructions or other danger signs. Broader Problems: IgnoranceLack of ability Narrower Problems: Media illiteracyEconomic ignoranceComputer illiteracyCultural illiteracyFunctional illiteracyIlliteracy among womenGeographical illiteracyLow self image due to illiteracyIlliteracy among indigenous peoplesIlliteracy among disadvantaged peopleHindrance of communication by illiteracyIlliteracy as an impediment for leadershipIlliteracy as an inhibitor of business transactions Mental depression Nature: Depression is a disease with a specific set of symptoms, notably a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression sufferers lose vitality, self-esteem and experience mood disorders. Depression is the cause of unreasonable and unnecessary suffering for millions of people, often to the point of disabling the sufferer. Depressed individuals usually struggle with completing their day-to-day tasks, feeling as if there s no more point in living.Depressive disorders can be found throughout the world. Depressive patients account for a significant proportion of all those requiring mental heath care and, as the majority of them remain untreated, their suffering continues to disable them and to cause losses to their families and communities. The situation is especially severe in developing countries. Lack of adequate detection and treatment is due to poorly-trained health workers, scarce resources, and insufficient knowledge.By 2020 depression will be the second most debilitating disease, yet in many parts of the world depression is stigmatized, with many people refusing treatment for fear of social backlash. Even so, tremendous strides are being made in the study and treatment of depression, including a better understanding of its causes and how best to treat it.In psychiatry, a major depressive episode refers to a clinical syndrome consisting of lowering of mood-tone (feelings of painful dejection), and loss of interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities, most of the time for a period of at least two weeks. It is experienced as a paralyzing listlessness, dejection and self-deprecation, as well as an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. It is a pathological state of conscious psychic suffering and guilt, accompanied by a marked reduction in the sense of personal values, and a diminution of mental, psychomotor, and even organic activity, unrelated to actual deficiency. As used by the layman, the word depression refers to the mood element, which in psychiatry would more appropriately be labelled dejection, sadness, gloominess, despair or despondency. Dysthymia is the state just below the threshold for major depression. Broader Problems: Mental illness Emotional disordersGenetic susceptibility to diseaseAutoimmune diseaseImpairments of hope Narrower Problems: Chronic boredomSundown syndromeSomatic syndromeNervous breakdownDepression at workPostnatal depressionInvolutional depressionDepression due to tortureManic-depressive psychosisPost-schizophrenic depressionMental depression in childrenSeasonal affective disorderRecurrent depressive disorder (RDD)Major depressive disorder (MDD) Water pollution Nature: Pollution immediately or eventually involves the hydrological cycle of the earth, because even pollutants emitted into the air and those present in the soil are washed out by precipitation. Water is considered polluted when it is altered in composition or condition so that it becomes less suitable for any or all of the functions and purposes for which it would be suitable in its natural state. This definition includes changes in the physical, chemical and biological properties of water, or such discharges of liquid, gaseous or solid substances into water as will or are likely to create nuisances or render such waters harmful to public health, safety or welfare, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, fish or other aquatic life. It also includes changes in temperature, due to the discharge of hot water.Pollution may be accidental (sometimes with grave consequences) but is most often caused by the uncontrolled disposal of sewage and other liquid wastes resulting from domestic uses of water, industrial wastes containing a variety of pollutants, agricultural effluents from animal husbandry and drainage of irrigation water, and urban run-off. The deliberate spreading of chemicals on the land to increase crop yields, or the addition of chemicals to water to control undesirable organisms, is another cause of pollution. Examples are the application of chemical fertilizers, and of pesticides for the control of aquatic weeds, insects and molluscs. Problems are compounded when national boundaries are involved, and cooperation in the management of transboundary waters is becoming essential. Broader Problems: Environmental pollutionWater-related hazards and dangers Narrower Problems: Marine pollutionWater salinizationSewage as a pollutantBiological pollutantsPolluted drinking waterWater surface pollutionSuspended matter in waterImpurities in waste waterFeminization of male fishPollution of inland watersTransboundary water pollutionEffluents from animal husbandryChemical contamination of waterPollution of fresh water sourcesWater pollution by pharmaceuticalsRadioactive contamination of waterWater pollution from fish productionNitrogen compounds as water pollutantsEnvironmental pollution from aquacultureUnhygienic recreational contact with sewage Epidemics Nature: The extent to which contagious and infectious diseases spread through human populations is highly variable. In a developed country a few hundred cases of typhoid or plague may produce anxiety or even mild panic, but the outbreak can usually be controlled by routine public health measures. Such an epidemic is not a threat to the survival of the community. In developing countries, diseases may be much more widespread and have a regular endemic character; in these cases, massive spread to the whole community is limited by a high degree of naturally acquired immunity, and public health measures may help. On the other hand, diseases (particularly new strains) like influenza or measles may attack a large proportion of a community, especially if it has acquired little immunity from previous exposure or by immunization. That some diseases (for example, influenza, measles and plague) are in fact capable of affecting a large part of a population in a highly disastrous fashion is a matter of historical fact.A potential pandemic virus would have three hallmarks. It would be of a new type to which large numbers of people would have no immunity. The illness it causes would be serious and life threatening, and it would be capable of spreading quickly from person to person.A major question is whether epidemics are rare accidents or whether they could be started deliberately. It is possible that, by a deliberate selection of mutants or through recombinants, highly virulent and spreading strains could be obtained. By 1998, research had shown that many new highly virulent forms of influenza arise due to antigenic shift. The antigens of the influenza change, either through mutation or through assembly of a new combination of animal viruses. Ducks can store both bird viruses and some forms of swine flu virus, and some of these in combination can infect humans, such as the modern H5N1 (Hong Kong 1968) virus. Thus epidemics can be due to accidents, but it is highly likely that such accidents will continue to occur frequently. Broader Problems: Infectious diseases Biological disasters Narrower Problems: MumpsPlagueAnthraxSmallpoxInfluenzaTularaemiaChikungunyaCoccidiosisYellow feverTyphoid feverCholera El TorViral hepatitisAvian influenzaEpidemic myalgiasEpizootic diseasesO'nyong-nyong feverEpidemic typhus feverType 2 diabetesAcquired human immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)Type C viral hepatitisCoronaviruses The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is a unique, experimental research work of the Union of International Associations. It is currently published as a searchable online platform with profiles of world problems, action strategies, and human values that are interlinked in novel and innovative ways. These connections are based on a range of relationships such as broader and narrower scope, aggravation, relatedness and more. By concentrating on these links and relationships, the Encyclopedia is uniquely positioned to bring focus to the complex and expansive sphere of global issues and their interconnected nature.The initial content for the Encyclopedia was seeded from UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations. UIA’s decades of collected data on the enormous variety of association life provided a broad initial perspective on the myriad problems of humanity. Recognizing that international associations are generally confronting world problems and developing action strategies based on particular values, the initial content was based on the descriptions, aims, titles and profiles of international associations. The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels. It was established in 1907, by Henri la Fontaine (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1913), and Paul Otlet, a founding father of what is now called information science. Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907.www.uia.org

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