Newswise — (New York – September 27, 2017) –– Increased detection and treatment of early hypertension and cervical cancer, and immunization for vaccine-preventable infections, such as the human papillomavirus and hepatitis B, that can lead to cancer, are among the recommendations of the Committee on Global Health and the Future of the United States.
The committee, whose co-chair is Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital, is affiliated with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. It was formed to identify global health priorities in light of current and emerging global health threats and challenges, including the rapid spread of infectious disease outbreaks and growing prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases, like heart attacks and strokes, which have negatively affected global health and economies.
The recommendations will be included in an editorial that will be published online September 28, 2017, in The New England Journal of Medicine.
“Human capital contributes substantially to economic growth, and it follows that having a healthy population is critical for economic prosperity,” said Dr. Fuster. “As more people survive infectious diseases and age into adulthood, many develop cardiovascular diseases and cancer—conditions that global health programs are not devoting adequate attention to.”
Dr. Fuster’s committee recommends that government and non-governmental organizations address these priorities through policy changes and community-based programs that are integrated into existing health services. For example, the committee recommends that agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of State, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should provide seed funding at the country level to facilitate mobilization and involvement of the private sector in addressing these issues.
“The United States cannot ignore the reality that the health and well-being of other countries affects the health, safety and economic security of Americans,” said Dr. Fuster. “The committee believes that implementing evidence-based interventions and taking a more proactive and systematic approach to global health priorities will make the U.S. government’s efforts in global health more effective and efficient.”
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The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City’s largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai’s vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 10 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Honor Roll” of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation’s top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in four other specialties in the 2017-2018 “Best Hospitals” issue. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital also is ranked in six out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology and 50th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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