Health literacy and sustainable development.

• Author: Murthy, Padmini

Many of us wonder what exactly literacy is and the role it plays in improving the lives of people on a daily basis. Literacy is a human right and can be considered a tool of personal empowerment: a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy. Thus, literacy is essential for eradicating poverty, improving the socio-economic status of communities, reducing child and maternal mortality rates, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and promoting sustainable development at the local, regional and national levels. (1)

According to a report released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Institution (UNESCO) in 2007, the countries of South and South-West Asia have the highest number of illiterate adults in the world: an estimated 388 million. While literacy rates in Central Asia are not as high, the gender gap is of concern, as 72.5 per cent of the illiterate population are women. (2) The lack of education and literacy among women and children is manifold causing a direct and indirect impact on their sense of empowerment, low socioeconomic status, health care and ultimately poor health.

To improve literacy rates, 2003-2012 has been designated as the United Nations Literacy Decade. In this context, UNESCO has been partnering with UN agencies and other organizations to promote literacy and teach basic health literacy, through formal and informal educational programmes in many countries.

Health literacy and the pivotal role it plays has been defined by the World Health Organization as follows:

Health literacy implies the achievement of a level of knowledge, personal skills and confidence to take action to improve personal and community health by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions. Thus, health literacy means more than being able to read pamphlets and make appointments. By improving people's access to health information, and their capacity to use it effectively, health literacy is critical to empowerment. Health literacy is itself dependent upon more general levels of literacy. Poor literacy can affect people's health directly by limiting their personal, social and cultural development, as well as hindering the development of health literacy. (3) Health care providers often face challenges when catering to the needs of the communities they serve. One of the important barriers which needs to be addressed is the lack of compliance due to the low levels of health care literacy worldwide. As a health care provider, public health practitioner and health educator working with global communities, I have found that certain groups of populations, such as women, those living in rural areas and immigrants are vulnerable to serious health disparities. Unfortunately, they experience significantly worse health outcomes such as higher rates of morbidity and mortality due to a lack of health literacy levels. Some of the health risks faced by these groups include a higher incidence of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and HIV/AIDS. These health risks demand effective communication between the...