Question

Please select one of the topics below to compose an initial thread over.  Please go in and respond to the original thread of two classmates.  Please make sure that at least one response is to a question other than the one you selected.

1.    What are some key factors that have increased the speed at which diseases can spread in a population?  What can we do in attempts to limit these/educate the public?

2.    Using the population health model, list and describe various determinants of the social and physical environmental domains that contribute to obesity, poor diet, and other chronic disease.

3.    What are some of the stimuli that have been found over the past 20 years to trigger the stress response in the body?  Have you directly or indirectly experienced any of these?  How did it affect you and what can be done?

4.    Describe some of the problems that have emerged as a result of the authority of management of public health residing with the states.

Answer 1

1. With the economies becoming global and closely integrated, the world has seen a massive increase in the rate at which diseases spread in a population. Some key factors that fuel faster spreading of diseases can be explained as follows:

• Greater travel and trade: Unlike the ancient times, today we have air lines and globalization to take people, animal and even germs around the world. Globalization has increased the work-related travel and travel can bring a disease to a country with several difficulties. The most complex problem is the lack of immunity among the citizens because of no previous exposure to the disease.
• Urbanization: The cities and towns are growing at a fast pace with giving less attention to its harmful effects on the environment. This has led to increase in spread of several communicable diseases like TB, asthma because of excess pollution.
• Poverty: Many countries though developing, still have a major chunk of population living below the poverty line. Lack of safe water, inadequate excreta disposal, poor hygiene and living conditions all these years have resulted in the widespread of diseases that are the major cause of death and suffering among the poor.
• Increasing temperatures: Researchers and scientists believe that diseases like cholera, bird flu are getting more severe with the increase in the temperature of the earth.

Some of the way to limit the harmful effects are discussed below:

Communication and education is the first line of defense against any disease or epidemic. Vaccination against possible diseases must be the first step in tackling such complications.

More focus must be on the people living in destitution who lack the basic necessities of life. They must be educated and be made aware regarding several epidemics and how to prevent the spreading of such diseases. Teams of experts in communication and behavioral science must be sent to places with inadequate technology to help them access information required to protect themselves through radio, posters, and fact-to-face interaction.

The governments must pay special attention to the health sector. Providing free health check ups, free and quality treatment and medicines to those infected will go a long way in curbing the spread of the disease.