Implications for Public Health

Abstract

The research findings reviewed here have enormous implications for disease prevention and health promotion in Islamic societies. Given the forces of secularization that are creeping eastward from the West, knowledge about the benefits and hazards of religious involvement may be important in preserving and enhancing the health of Muslims who feel drawn away from their faith traditions by popular trends. Given what is known from systematic research, we discuss the consequences that could result as Islamic societies become less and less religious. This includes an impact on escalating healthcare costs that many developed and developing Muslim countries are now grappling with as their populations live longer and longer due to advances in medical care. This chapter will be particularly useful to public health researchers, healthcare administrators, and government policy makers, who must face the challenge of maintaining and improving the health of their populations in order to reduce the financial costs needed to deal with social problems and the care of those with chronic illness (much of which may be preventable by developing the self-control that the Islam fosters).