. Prevention-led health policy amid catastrophic global disease outbreaks
With Corona virus being the latest phenomenon, global disease outbreak is reaching fever fiver pitch rocking even some of the powerful nations on earth, which are home to strong public health policies, improved facilities, and technologies.
The rapid spread of the novel Corona virus has already sent a shockwave around the globe that the global outbreak is going to be the future battle when it comes to health frontier. The magnitude and its scale have also threatened both the rich and the poor countries.
The burden of global health is also expected to further get intensified due to increasing globalization and communications. While eradicating global diseases require collective action, the encumbrance largely rest on countries’ prevention and treatment efficiencies.
Having an undeveloped health sector, developing countries face tremendous public health threats. In spite of slight improvements, countries with poor treatment capability still carry the leading health burden.
Developing countries are the major victims of global epidemics as they lack the means and facilities to withstand catastrophic threats. These countries are yet to build their treatment capabilities, what they can afford are to capitalize on their disease detection and prevention works, says Betemariam Alemu who is a public health expert.
According to WHO, the most recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a good example. Governments and response agencies poured more than 3.6 billion USD into containment, 11,000 lives were lost, 28,000 were infected, and the regional economy lost 2.2 billion USD in GDP in one year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2016).
The excessive dependence on crisis response is both costly and ineffective. “We need to adequately invest in the prevention of disease outbreaks. Once disease outbreaks occur, it may require an unexpected economic cost of tens of billions of dollars annually.”
Fortunately, he says Ethiopia’s public health policy is prevention led. This policy has been instrumental in eradicating major public health threats which could have created crises. Ethiopia cannot afford to battle a global disease outbreak.
These days, global health challenges are growing alarmingly. In fact, the challenges are not only affecting the developing countries but they are also frustratingly disturbing developed nations. The issue of global disease outbreak is neither to be ignored nor to be undermined. Ethiopia should throw its full weight behind fighting communicable diseases while keeping its momentum gained so far, it needs to work more in building the required facilities and expertise that are the keys in the preventive efforts.
The health extension workers who are the main force in eradicating communicable diseases would be integrated into a task force that counters global health complexity. Building reliable health sector demands continuous works and reinforcement, as experts say.
The country has demonstrated commendable works when it comes to containing global outbreaks—to name but a few, Ebola and SARS. The country did not only prove its strength but it also lent a hand to other nations in the fight against Ebola.
According to the WHO, compared to the resources devoted to mitigate other global risks such as terrorism, climate change, or war, the world invests strikingly a little in infectious disease outbreak preparedness. The problem is not lack of knowledge, as the public health community knows what steps are needed to mitigate risks.
The typical pattern of infectious disease preparedness today can be characterized as a cycle of panic and neglect: a flood of resources during outbreaks followed by a lack of interest and diminished investments, according to the expert.
Outbreaks like Corona virus are always challenging. Because this virus is new, there is no vaccine to prevent it or medicines to treat it yet, says Spokesperson John Ice, with information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
According to him, emerging public health threats know no borders. Because of this, the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), a multi-nation effort was launched in February 2014 to respond to the global threat that infectious diseases pose in our increasingly interconnected world.
In the past, outbreaks such as SARS (2002), H1N1 influenza (2009), MERS-CoV (2012), H7N9 influenza (2013) and Ebola (2014) have had great impacts on humans, security and economics at the country, regional, and global levels, he says.
Public health experts from partners like the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) work closely with the Government of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health on when vaccines or medicines might become available. In the meantime, basic infection prevention practices can minimize the spread of these diseases, he adds.
Ethiopia is one of the 69 countries worldwide that have joined GHSA to improve its capacity to prevent, detect and respond to emerging disease threats like this novel coronavirus. The US CDC and other partners like WHO are working closely with the Government of Ethiopia in these endeavors.
The Ethiopian Herald Friday Edition, February 7/2020
BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT
