Læknablaðið - 15.02.1985, Side 55

LÆKNABLAÐIÐ
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of States« adopted by the General Assembly of the
United Nations and with the »International Develop-
ment Strategy for the Third United Nations Develop-
ment Decade« urging developed countries to signifi-
cantly increase their public aid to support the develop-
ment of developing countries. In this spirit, new ways of
stimulating and channelling voluntary contributions to
developing countries could be established. One possible
means would be to set up a special European Health
Development Fund to assist the development of the
health infrastructure in the less developed countries of
the Region. If established, such a fund should be
operated under the overall guidance of the Regional
Committee and be limited to development projects in
line with basic health for all policies. However, aspecial
feasibility study would be required before it were
decided whether or not to establish such a fund.
Social deprivation is not uncommon even in some of
the more developed countries of the European Region;
even in the most highly developed countries seven years
less life expectancy and two and a half times as much
infant mortality have been found among the lowest
social class, as compared with the highest. By the mid-
1970s in the countries belonging to the European
Economic Community alone, there were still some 30
million people living in poverty. People in other parts of
the Region are also living below the recognized social
minimum. Their ranks have been swelled by the »new
poor«, many of them women with dependent children
who are reliant either on low wages or on state benefits.
Similar differences can also be found in other sub-
groups within countries, e.g. old people, ethnic minori-
ties and people living in specific geographical areas. A
major task in any national health for all policy must
therefore be to establish a consistent and long-term
policy capable of radically reducing the present social
inequity in income, housing, etc.
1.3. SATISFACTION OF PEOPLE’s BASIC NEEDS
If there is to be a significant move towards genuine
social equity in the Region, people must have the
opportunity to satisfy their basic needs in the way of
decent food, basic education, safe drinking-water,
adequate housing and a useful occupation providing an
adequate income.
1.3.1. Food
To obtain enough of the right kind of food is still an
important problem in various parts of the Region, both
affluent and developing. Among children, inadequate
food lowers resistance to disease and leads to impaired
physical and mental development. Figures for infant
deaths and low birth weight show that there is serious
undernutrition and malnutrition in parts of the Region.
Furthermore, the deficient diet of many elderly people,
particularly those living alone, is of special concern in
many countries.
Basic foods should be priced within everyone’s
means. Well-planned and integrated national food and
nutrition policies and programmes are needed to
improve the production and distribution of food at
affordable prices among deprived groups and in
deprived areas.
The elimination of hunger and malnutrition is a
fundamental objective of the International Develop-
ment Strategy for the Third United Nations Develop-
ment Decade and could be achieved by ensuring inter
alia that all human beings have access to the basic food
they need at prices within their means.
1.3.2. Basic education
Education is the foundation for developing individual
potential and for ensuring useful participation in
society. It is also a basis for understanding health, for
making informed choices about lifestyles, and for
looking after personal and family health. Member
States, by endorsing the Constitution of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organiza-
tion (UNESCO) have recognized the need for full and
equal opportunities for education for all.
The level of education of the people of this Region is
among the highest in the world. Dramatic differences
nevertheless persist. In some countries, it has been
estimated that in 1980 half the people aged 15 years and
over were illiterate, and in women in the same countries,
illiteracy may be as high as 80%. Even in well-developed
countries, significant percentages of the population are
now functionally illiterate.
The United Nations General Assembly recently
adopted a resolution on the right to education, stressing
the urgency to eradicate illiteracy, and invited all States
to adopt appropriate measures to ensure full implemen-
tation of this right through free and compulsory
primary education, universal and gradually free-of-
charge secondary education, and equal access to all
educational facilities. Particular attention should be
given to groups which have not had the same
opportunities of obtaining an adequate basic educa-
tion. The resolution requested UNESCO to work on the
implementation of this right and invited all specialized
agencies to work with UNESCO towards this end.
1.3.3. Water and sanitation
Water and sanitation are essential for the protection of
human health. In some countries, however, many rural
people and even some people in towns lack the most
basic facilities. It has been estimated that well over 100
million people in the Region are without an acceptable
water supply and 250 million without proper sanitation.
The importance of the problem is shown by the fact that
in some countries many infants are still dying from
enteric and diarrhoeal diseases.
The target of the International Drinking Water
Supply and Sanitation Decade requires that by 1990 all
people should already be provided with a continuous
supply of safe drinking-water and appropriate means of
sanitation. Chapter 4 sets targets in these respects.
1.3.4. Decent housing
Decent housing is an important contributing factor in
building up and maintaining family life and social
interaction. The level of hygiene in human dwellings is
a very significant environmental health factor, especial-
ly for those who spend most of their time indoors, such
as infants, young children, the elderly and the hand-
icapped. Housing conditions thus affect for better or
for worse everybody’s physical, mental and social
wellbeing.