Title: Editorial: beyond population statistics [editorial]

POPLINE Document Number: 108668

Author(s):

Silver G

Source citation:

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 1995 Oct;85(10):1345-6.

Abstract:

If the size of the world's population continues to increase at its present rate of growth, it will not be long before their will be neither sufficient resources nor space on the planet. It will be increasingly necessary to ration scarce resources as we move forward into the 21st century. In the meantime, the public health community has the responsibility to see what moral and humane steps can be taken. Morrow and Bryant have suggested a modified triage approach toward a social strategy for health and population policy in which they assign a standard for judgement in the rationing of health resources in an index to reach those most in need. The index, through an economic analysis of illness and the burden of disability, suggests what is needed and what can be accomplished. It is one of few efforts taking into consideration local expectations and is not based exclusively upon the donors' analysis and decisions. More needs to be done in conjunction with larger issues, such as the application of a burden-of-disease index to the wealthy countries, more prudent management of resources there, and the protection of the global environment.

Keywords:

Population Control
Carrying Capacity
Population Statistics
Population Policy
Social Policy
Policy
Natural Resources
Environment
Research Methodology