C2 Health Geography of Czechia
Dagmar Dzúrová
Wednesday, April 16 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
“Health is not everything, but without health, everything else is worthless.”
Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Halfdan Mahler
Background
Health geography is a subdiscipline of human geography, which deals with the interaction between people and the environment. Health geography recognizes the importance of context, setting and spatial scale – from global to local – in determining health outcomes.
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO, 1948). The Millennium Development Goals – 17 new Sustainable Development Goals balance the three dimensions of sustainable development – environmental, social and economic – covering areas such as poverty, inequality, health etc.
Health geography of Czechia
Health differences – disadvantaged groups benefit later from improvements in health
determinants. They are also the most vulnerable when unexpected societal changes occur.
Unhealthy behavior/Preventable risk factors – Alcohol and tobacco are the major health problems across all of Europe – but Czechia looks worse than many other countries.
Conclusion
A little closer to the European average
A widening gap in social variations
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