Global Public Health Response
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Global Public Health Response
Global response between the Ebola virus and H1N1 outbreak
Ebola has been declared by WHO to be an international Health emergency. However, Ebola virus is not a new disease. First identified in 1976, and since then there have been approximately 23 recognized outbreaks predominantly in central Africa. There have been several sporadic outbreaks of the virus in Africa, but the outbreak that occurred in the year 2016 experienced public interests. Therefore, analysis based on the recent outbreak of Ebola drew the comparison of Ebola virus and notorious virus known as H1N1 (swine flu) which created similar effects on the public. Although H1N1 virus is no longer a major health threat, the flu still circulates seasonally causing significant illnesses and even hospitalizations. However, there is available treatment for this virus that is the use of antiviral drugs. Ebola, in contrast, there exist no vaccines or drugs for the virus only preventive measures are put into place, for example, avoiding places where the is prevalent and practicing ideal hygienic practices. Ebola or Zika is a sporadic outbreak unlike the case of Flu (Kum, 2019). Because of this there is continued research and learning that goes on which supports work on other emerging diseases. There are strategies focused on majorly three priorities, strengthening an outbreak preparedness of an health system, expanding prevention and control and research and innovations. For instance, in the case if H1N1 there are seasonal influenza prevention and control strategies, forecasting of influenza outbreaks, along with the development of new vaccines and the use antiviral drugs. In contrast, there are a lot of gaps that exist in terms of the knowledge, disease surveillance and public health measures on how to deal with Ebola virus.
Based on global disease outbreaks, there is always a significant time delay from the time and source of an outbreak and the collective actions taken to combat the illness. Some delay is necessary. however, recent delays have shown the insufficient surveillance capacity systems and time taken to mobilize for action. Studies have also shown that global mobilization is a greater delay compared to the poor surveillance capacity system. There is always a quicker response for the less severe <novel disease> when outbreaks occur compared to the more severe diseases that are of threat to a large population. For example, 49 cases and 29 deaths had been confirmed barely 10 days after the outbreak of the recent Ebola outbreak, which could only be explained by the weak surveillance systems and poor public infrastructure leading to difficulty in of the outbreak in west Africa.
Social and economic implications
Different scheme models based on previous studies like that of HIV/AIDS, were used to assess the macro economic impact of Ebola outbreak. Although different parameters are assumed, the main focus of all the applied model schemes focused on the impact of lost labor productivity per Ebola virus disease case, also trade was affected due to the restrictions of the epidemic to the certain countries affected. Hence, there was a huge reduction in terms of GDP per capita for the affected countries in that particular period of time. Apart from the economic impact, there was also a great impact on human rights in the region, with significant negative effects on cultural practices, and socio-economic including; education sector was greatly affected consisting the loss of teachers, closure of schools and reduction in the number of school attendance, Inter-communal relationships were weakened, access to health care services greatly reduced due to the fear contracting the disease, and also the effect of the disease greatly impacted poverty to the affected and also their neighboring countries (Hoffman, 2018).
Recommendations for future outbreaks
Finally, some of the important lessons learned from the H1N1 and Ebola should be factored into containment, recovery and preventive measure would include; improving the preparedness of the health systems by addressing public health crisis which requires trained specialists. Secondly, tackling risky cultural practices calls for better appreciation of the context among religious and traditional leaders. Thirdly, health is as import as an economy of any particular nation; therefore, without a healthy population, promoting a rapid economic growth is cumbersome. Fourth, leadership matters, the government must take the lead in dealing with the crisis because of the negative impact both economic and social. Fifth, health education among people is very crucial to avert the issue of stigmatization and lastly, addressing an outbreak requires the importance of trust between the government and its people.
References
Fuein vera kum, S. o. (2019). Impact of Ebola virus disease on government expenditure in sierra leone. soci cultural dimensions of emerging infectious diseases in africa, 75-90.
steven J Hoffman, S. L. (2018). delays in global disease outbreak. american journal of public health, 329-333.