Understanding health and related issues is a major focal point for international public health communication. In this video, HealthMaker Scott Ratzan, MD, explains what health literacy is and why it's important.
I think one of the biggest challenges in global health is how people understand what health is, and I call it health literacy and neither do I call it that, but there is a definition of health literacy that's part of both the United Nations activities in terms of global work, but the United States has a National Action Plan on health literacy, and the reason is that many people don't understand the basic skills or don't have the abilities that are necessary to manage their health, and the system is so complex that people don't pay attention or the system doesn't give information to them in ways that they can use.
Scott C. Ratzan, MD, is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives. He says fixing healthcare begins with improving health literacy among patients -- along public/private health partnerships.
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