In today’s blog we will be learning about Spain and how they are working towards providing better health for their country. Spain is located in Europe and is considered the 52nd largest nation in the world with 505,370 kilometers in total. (Where is Spain, 2015) Spain is known for its beautiful sight seeing locations and the many cities that tourists enjoy visiting. Although it is a beautiful country, they are still working on improving the well-being of their country. They have done a review of the SDG’s to have a better understanding what the situation is like in their country.
They have reviewed the third SDG goal and have some things to improve. They have determined that they need to focus on creating new measures to “prevent and respond appropriately to disabilities, reducing their impact on individual health, and promoting quality of life and integration in the activities of society.” (Spain’s report for the 2018 voluntary national review) The have pointed out a few issues such as poor diet and other factors that are affecting the health of the population of different ages. They have come up with a few solutions to address these targets such as having campaigns on having healthy lifestyle. With this target they want to limit the use of alcohol, tobacco, and promote exercise. They also would like to have community interventions to inform the community about their health in hopes of lowering the rates of premature mortality and non-communicable diseases. Spain is working closely with the Council of the National Health System; when Spain comes up with a strategy on how they wish to approach a certain target they must get their approval, and once that is done, they are able to proceed with their plans. It is not clear what other resources they are relying on, but I assume that they are creating programs to focus on each target.
In order to make sure that these SDG’s are being monitored they are working with a congress of deputies, who are in charge of making sure that targets are being met as accurately as possible. They have also created the “Millennium Fund in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)”. (Spain’s report for the 2018 voluntary national review) It is not stated how much they intend to invest in this, but they are aware that different projects will need to be funded.
Spain is conscious that there are many factors that contribute to the well-being of people, one of these factors is climate change; “urban pollution is an example of a situation producing negative impacts on health.” (Spain’s report for the 2018 voluntary national review) pollution can affect the health of many because it can cause many complications. This is an issue in Spain which is why they have approached this by encouraging people to be more aware and find ways to reduce pollution. They believe that by reducing pollution they can encourage the community to engage in more physical activities; which will help them reach their target. This sustainable development goal is a priority and it is currently being addressed in Spain. They are monitoring closely each SDG and making sure that they are doing everything they can to make sure that they are working towards a better country.
Sources:
Where is Spain? (2015, October 2). Retrieved from
https://www.worldatlas.com/eu/es/where-is-spain.html
https://www.worldatlas.com/eu/es/where-is-spain.html
Sustainable Development Goals.
(2018). Spain’s Report For The 2018 Voluntary National Review [PDF file].
Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/203295182018_VNR_Report_Spain_EN_ddghpbrgsp.pdf
[Image of España Sustainable Development] (2019). Retrieved From
[Image SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being - Statistics Explained] (2019). Retrieved from
Hi Litza,
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Spain is the 52nd largest country in the world. That pretty interesting when you compare it the counties that are larger than it, as well as smaller. I have always wanted to visit Spain so hopefully I will be able to do that some day. It is nice to read about how a county is stepping up to better provide for their people and increase the overall health and well being of their citizens. And its great that they are trying to limit the use of tobacco and alcohol. In todays society, it is so important to reduce the amount of pollution. If anything is going to destroy this planet, I believe that is whats going to do it.