The process of practicing public health apparently differs across the world, whether such practices are reflected in the economic and social systems of high income countries or low income countries (Biggs, King, Basu, & Stuckler, 2010). A country that could be classified as a high income nation is Canada because its per-capita income level is identified as $51,958 in the period from 2010 to 2014 (Rudan et al., 2010). Another country, Bulgaria, could be identified as a low income nation considering that its per-capita income level is $7,498 for the same period. The information is based on a report conducted by the World Bank (2014). The objective of this paper is to compare practices of public health in Canada and Bulgaria as countries that represent high-income versus low-income nations (Coovadia et al., 2009).
In Canada, there have been extensive efforts in the healthcare field to strengthen the practice of public health, which could be explained with the substantial resources available in the Canadian healthcare system unlike the situation in Bulgaria. The Public Health Agency of Canada is committed to build healthcare infrastructure of high level through the introduction of various training programs and networks that connect experts from different disciplines (Shelton, Cassell, & Adetunji, 2005). It has been indicated the capacity and capability of Canada to act in order to strength the delivery of public health outcomes. Another significant aspect of the overall idea to strengthen the practice of public health in Canada refers to demonstrating evidence-based public health practice (Pan American Health Organization, n. d.). It has been argued that information is a vital point for public health in the country in the sense of serving as a solid basis to make important decisions on disease prevention. In this context, the Public Health Agency of Canada has indicated numerous achievements, such as its report Economic Burden of Illness, which clearly outlines the tools necessary to undertake fundamental public health functions (Norman et al., 2010). The focus is on improving the entire system of collecting and sharing public health information, which would additionally contribute to transparency and feasibility of the public healthcare system as a whole.
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"Practicing Public Health".
In contrast, the situation in the low-income nation of Bulgaria seems completely different from the promising perspectives outlined in the Canadian public health context. The impact of the former communist era in Bulgaria has been rather negative on the delivery of public health outcomes (Spiegel & Yassi, 2004). Despite the reforms that had been initiated in the field, much more should be done to provide high quality services to patients similarly to the health systems in Western European countries, or in high-income nations such as Canada. The quality of medical research and training is inadequate, as this is mainly due to low funding (African Population and Health Research Center, 2011). Another persistent problem that has been detected in the Bulgarian public health system relates to the shortage of primary-care personnel. However, there are hopes that the situation of practicing public health in Bulgaria would improve in the near future given that the country tries its best to comply with the guidelines provided by the European Union (Kyobutungi, Egondi, & Ezeh, 2010).
This essay demonstrated certain comparative points between the public health systems of Canada and Bulgaria. Yet it can be pointed out that contrasting a high-income nation to a low-income country is challenging itself because of the substantial differences of capital and funding mechanisms available in those two countries (Norman et al., 2010). It was concluded that Canada has a better developed public health system than Bulgaria, which is solely because of greater resources available in the Canadian system.
