Global Health Paper
The global health paper is due as stated in the course schedule. The global health paper furthers knowledge on health issues around the world and uses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a basis for discussion. Students will :
choose ONE low-income or low-middle income country and
one topic listed under SDG Goal #3: Good Health and Well-Being (choose Child Health, Maternal Health, or HIV/AIDS)
one of the Goal 3 Targets
They will then research the progress that this country has had toward meeting the SDG that was chosen, as well as any information regarding the ways that the country is moving toward meeting the SDG. It will be necessary to compare statistics from about the year 2000 to present, including statistics from the United States in order to provide a comparison between countries. Include the data trend, with statistics from sometime around the year 2000 and then present day data.
Example of table (NOTE- This is NOT in proper APA format, just an example to show the minimum data needed):
Uganda, 2000
Uganda, 2018
United States, 2000
United States, 2018
Maternal Mortality Rate
Percentage of women receiving prenatal care
Percentage of births attended by skilled health professional
This is ONLY an example of data that should be collected for this specific topic and goal to help clarify the amount of data required for the table.
Students must gather information about the living situation/culture/norms in the country to help explain why the SDGs are needed to help better the health of the population. Students will also need to identify and discuss barriers and challenges that exist within the country.
Even if the country has met the original goal, there is still improvement to be made. Resources, strategies, and assets within the country should be discussed. This would include cultural considerations and programs that may have been developed specifically to make progress toward the SDG chosen.
Students will want to review information on the following websites prior to beginning this assignment:
(for information about the SDGs) /> (countries that students may choose are listed at the bottom of these last 2 webpages)Students will present their findings in a scholarly paper using APA format; paper should have at least 4-full pages of narrative text (not including cover page and reference page; will be at least 6 pages total with cover page and reference page). No abstract is needed. Students should review the rubric prior to writing the paper for guidelines related to number of pages per section.
A table should be used to compare statistics but must be created by the student and must include in-text citations (do not cut and paste a table found online). At least 3 different references (including one reference from a research or peer-reviewed journal, published within the past 7 years) are required to gather information about the country, the SDG, and the evidence of barriers/challenges/resources/assets.
** A quick reminder– all student papers will be uploaded to the plagiarism detection program, SafeAssign. In general, faculty will be looking for SafeAssign reports of less than 30% match. Be sure that you appropriately paraphrase and cite/reference your electronic sources. It is expected that students are able to synthesize material, and not “cut and paste” information from other sources. Please use only a few quotes as necessary, and only in instances where you are unable to synthesize and paraphrase the information. See the APA manual for guidance.
Again, it is more important to synthesize the materials from other sources and then paraphrase the information into your own words. It is important for students to follow the rubric closely for required content and for approximate length of each section. The ability to get your point across while using brevity is an important skill to learn.
Global Health Paper Rubric
Identification and description of developing country, including location, climate, cultural considerations, population statistics, and industry/ exports (at minimum).
10 points/ ¾-1 page
Identification of SDG topic and target; choose either Child Health, Maternal Health, or HIV/AIDS (under Goal #3: Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-Being for All at All Ages) and one Goal 3 target
5 points/ one paragraph
Comparison of statistics indicating movement toward meeting goal from the year 2000 to present (must use a table). DO NOT copy & paste a table from another source. Should include at least 3 different data sets, including the chosen country and the United States data for the same time frame.
15 points/ ¾-1 page
Identification and Discussion of barriers/challenges; discuss cultural barriers, income, poverty, education, etc.
30 points/ 1- 1 ½ pages
Identification and Discussion of resources/strategies/ assets; discuss programs/policies that have been put in place since the year 2000, NGO initiatives, discuss assets within the country/culture, etc.
30 points/ 1- 1 ½ pages
References (at least 3 references; one should be a research or peer-reviewed journal article published within the past 7 years)
5 points
APA format (for entire paper, including title page, introduction, conclusion, in-text citations, figures/tables, references, etc.). Do not need an abstract.
5 points
Total Points
100 points
Global Health Paper
Student Full Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Full Title
Instructor Full Name
Due date
Global Health Paper
Identification and Description of Developing Country
The developing country in focus for the global health analysis is Somalia. Somalia is the easternmost country in Africa, positioned between sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabic countries and southwestern Asia. The country’s population is currently estimated at around 15,893,222, representing 0.2% percent of the global share. The climate condition of Somalia is normally dry and hot, with the high percentage of the country being extremely flat. The country’s landscape is mainly formed of thornbush savanna and semi-desert. The geographic structure of Somalia facilitates the nomadic pastoralism or agropastoralism way of life. The essential economic sectors of Somalia include agriculture, fishing, and forestry, with livestock rising being the main economic activity.
SDG Topic and Target
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) topic for discussion is maternal health in Somalia. The target goal is to ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being of expectant mothers and their newborns. Maternal health is considered the most vulnerable in Somalia, with maternal morbidity and mortality remains one of the world’s highest levels. According to World Health Organization (WHO), maternal health involves the health of a woman or mother during their pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period (WHO, 2021). Therefore, the three stages should be managed within a positive experience to achieve full potential for both the women and their babies in terms of health and well-being.
The causes of maternal mortality and morbidity include pregnancy and childbirth-related complications such as excessive blood loss at childbirth or postnatal period, hemorrhage, unsafe abortion, eclampsia, high blood pressure, obstructed labour, and infections as a result of limited or lack of access to emergency obstetric care (JLI Social Media, 2018). Causes of maternal mortality that are not direct include malaria, heart disease, anemia, chronic malnutrition, and unavailability of qualified healthcare personnel and timely treatment. Enhancing maternal health in Somalia can be achieved by focusing on the target goal of promoting the well-being of pregnant women by reducing or preventing maternal deaths through timely management by health professionals that are skilled and work in an environment that is supportive for offering maternal services. Additionally, the target goal aims at reducing and preventing maternal injury and disability to promote pregnant women and their child health and well-being. The uniqueness concerning every pregnancy and birth should be considered towards addressing inequalities that contribute to poor health outcomes.
Comparison of Statistics
Understanding maternal health in Somalia requires a close analysis of the data in various aspects of maternal health, such as the maternal mortality rate and births attended by a skilled health professional. The aspects of Somalia are compared to the United States.
Table 1.
Maternal Mortality Death Ratio in Somalia and United
Year Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100,000 live births)
Somalia United States
2017 829 19
2016 865 19
2015 855 18
2014 878 16
2013 893 16
2012 943 16
2011 955 15
2010 985 15
2009 994 15
2008 1,010 14
2007 1,030 14
2006 1,040 14
2005 1,040 13
2004 1,080 13
2003 1,100 13
2002 1,140 13
2001 1,170 13
2000 1,210 12
Table 2.
Births Attended By Skilled Health Staff in Somalia and United
Year Births attended by skilled health staff (%)
Somalia United States
2018 31.9 99.1
2017 99.1
2016 99.1
2015 99.1
2014 98.5
2013 99.2
2012 99.3
2011 99.3
2010 99.4
2009 99.3
2008 99.3
2007 99.3
2006 9.4 99.4
2005 99.4
2004 99.3
2003 99.3
2002 24.8 99.5
2001 19.3 99.4
2000 19.3 99.4
Identification and Discussion of Barriers/Challenges
The efforts to address the problems associated with maternal health and ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being of pregnant women and their newborns have been limited due to various barriers and challenges. One of the barriers that have a significant impact on the efforts of the Somalia government to improve maternal health is the underfinanced health system, which has contributed to challenges in healthcare delivery. Lack of financial resources in the health sector has resulted in insufficient and underqualified staff contributing to poor healthcare quality (Yusuf et al., 2017). Achieving maternal health requires high accessibility to the healthcare facility, which can be attained in Somalia due to inadequate access to roads and the short supply of health centers. Lack of education is a significant source of the challenges to improve maternal health in Somalia. The country is considered one of the lowest rates in primary school enrollment globally, with only about 40 percent of children being in school (CIA World Factbook, 2020). A low level of education impacts the ability of the government to facilitate women, especially young mothers, to visit health centers. Poor education also contributes to high rates of early pregnancy and unsafe abortions, increasing the maternal mortality rate in the country.
Furthermore, the country is associated with poor governance, a high poverty ratio, underdevelopment due to economic decline, and protracted internal conflict that hinders developing and implementing policies and strategies to improve maternal health. Additionally, social and gender inequality in the country creates a barrier to efforts to improve maternal health. For instance, the influence of Islamic and traditional cultural norms has created skepticism or rejection towards sexual and reproductive health measures and modern healthcare.
Identification and Discussion of Resources/Strategies/ Assets
The efforts to improve maternal health to ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being of pregnant women in Somalia have been conducted by the government and non-governmental organizations. The government of Somalia, since 2000, has built additional primary health care centers to provide better access to healthcare services, basic hygiene, and nutrition for pregnant women. The government has since engaged in extensive development and accreditation of public and private medical training institutions to strengthen the educational and technical skills for training healthcare personnel to meet the current needs (GIZ, n.d.). In addition, the investment in modern technology has been a priority to the government to improve the management, delivery, and coordinating capacities of healthcare. For instance, the health ministry utilizes social media and other digital forms of media to provide educational programs to pregnant mothers. The ministry has also initiated reproductive health interventions towards strengthening early referral of complicated pregnancies, supporting safe delivery, enhancing emergency obstetric care access, extending the obstetric services to most vulnerable communities, curbing sexual and gender violence, and mitigating female genital mutilation.
Other investments in improving maternal health by the health ministry in Somalia include facilitation of transport by increasing the number of ambulances in health centers and utilizing community-based health education that increases the likelihood of women visiting health centers to obtain skilled birth (Yusuf et al., 2017). In addition, various NGO initiatives have been significant in improving maternal health in Somalia. For instance, the American Refugee Committee International (ARC) has been operating fixed and mobile healthcare facilities in Somalia since 2011 to ensure pregnant women throughout the country access support needed. In addition, the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) and Somaliland Nursing and Midwifery Association (SLNMA) have initiatives of providing Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) services to pregnant women.
References
CIA World Factbook. (2020). Somalia Demographics Profile. Retrieved June 17, 2021, from https://www.indexmundi.com/somalia/demographics_profile.html
GIZ. (n.d.). Promoting maternal and child health and improved nutrition in Somalia. Retrieved June 17, 2021, from https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/39829.html
JLI Social Media. (2018). Maternal and Child Health in Somalia. Retrieved June 17, 2021, from https://www.jliedu.com/blog/maternal-child-health-somalia/
WHO. (2021). Maternal health. Retrieved June 17, 2021, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/maternal-health#tab=tab_1
Yusuf, M., Kodhiambo, M., Muendo, F., and Kariuki, J. (2017). Determinants of Access to Skilled Birth Attendants by Women in Galkacyo District, Somalia. Asian Journal of Medicine and Health, 4(4):1-9. DOI:10.9734/AJMAH/2017/32364
