Huge efforts are under way to address health problems such as SARS, HIV,
diabetes and many other illnesses by developing
vaccines or therapeutic drugs. However, understanding culture and behavioral ecology to create sensible public policy may hold as much potential for fighting infectious and chronic diseases worldwide, says Melbourne F. Hovell, Ph.D., a professor in
San Diego State University's Graduate School of Public Health. He will discuss this topic at the university's 14th annual Albert W. Johnson Research Lecture on April 28.
"We need to emphasize disease prevention, and not just treatment," said Hovell, who will deliver his free public lecture at 4 p.m. at SDSU's Little Theatre. "This is important because despite our best efforts to eradicate disease, nature continues to throw new problems our way, and all signs indicate that many diseases we're fighting today will continue to be with us, and may increase in rate and severity."
Hovell is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of health promotion and a founder of SDSU's Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health (CBEACH). He will discuss the application of his research to global public health concerns and suggest prevention efforts to address catastrophic pandemic risks. His work has been instrumental in fostering a better understanding of medical concerns such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, arthritis, diabetes, tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), breast cancer and hepatitis.
Analyzing how a community or individual's behavior affects health and disease will become even more important in coming decades, Hovell said, because in addition to the constant threat of infectious disease, chronic diseases typically found in wealthy nations - obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. - are becoming more widespread worldwide. These diseases can be fought through health promotion, although it's often a complicated process.
"A lot of health promotion programs put the burden of making healthy choices on the individual. But the prevalence of tobacco in China, or fat-heavy fast food here in the U.S., has to be considered," Hovell said. "No one plans to become a smoker at age 11 or obese by their teenage years. They're living in a world built for them, not by them. So we must address their community or culture as well to affect change."
There is proof this approach can work, Hovell said, citing the success of California's Tobacco Control program as an example of reducing smoking rates in the state to among the lowest in the world.