Various
health policies have been formulated to curb the spread of Communicable
diseases, also referred to as infectious infections. Societal practices such as
overcrowding in the shopping centers, constant movement of people that leads to
culmination of rural camps, habit of using the day care facilities service, and
involvement in unsafe sexual practices. Controls of such diseases involve
personal initiatives in maintaining high standard of hygiene and safe water
treatment methods. A clean environment coupled with good health system forms
the foundation of eradicating communicable diseases. These diseases are mainly either vector-borne
or water-borne.
Communicable
diseases like Chicken Pox that the hostels K and L had are an outbreak of, need
to be controlled to curb the spread to an epidemic level. The proposed or
suggested interventions includes fields related to water and sanitation,
hygiene, health care, and in other diseases like Chicken Pox, one should seek
medical attention as soon as possible in as much as it is thought to affect
each person at least once in a lifetime, of which it is believed that the
earlier, the better. Other factors to be considered are the cost,
implementation pace, feasibility of the program and its adherence to the human
rights issues. The program should not be in conflict with the culture of the
victims or the target populations. The program design usually includes the
rapid assessment stage usually after the occurrence of some kind of disaster.
It’s a period of data gathering and snap decision making. The in-depth
assessment helps in comprehensive planning of the control program. At this
stage, the background information of the affected population is sought together
with the magnitude of the epidemic. The
program should include some long term plan on how to reduce the effect of such
epidemics in case they re-occur.
The
commonly applied strategies in controlling the outbreaks of infectious diseases
are reduction of mortality rate due to proactive measures that ensures early
detection and consequent treatment; another ideology is to encourage preventive
activities which will in the long run reduce rampant spread of such diseases.
These should be applied without much bureaucracy. Quick response is the
principle to be adhered to incase of an outbreak. This helps in curbing the
impending epidemic. The emergency program of immunization also plays a vital
role in controlling the communicable diseases.
The
implementation of the program calls for prioritizing of the intervention
measures. Various measures used in deciding what to be carried first or last
includes the cost, staff availability, extent of the problem, implementation
technicalities.
The
occurrence of natural disasters renders the victims vulnerable to communicable
diseases. Calamities like floods, droughts, earthquakes and hurricanes occur
annually around the world and they alter the disease patterns. The outbreak of
communicable diseases doesn’t consider borders but rather spreads like bush
fire if control measures are not applied immediately.
The
goal of a good control program should be to prevent and reduce mortality and
morbidity rates as well as the spread of the infectious diseases. Isolation of the victims as seen on April 10th
with a Chicken Pox patient is a violation of their right of access to medical
care freely, freedom of movement and association are also infringed. Such
people need our support for them to feel as part of the society, this enhance
recovery or healing process.
