New Technology : A Mixed Bag

As a first generation immigrant from Ghana, I have witnessed family members seek care outside of Ghana because of a lack of trust in the Ghanaian health system. I have heard stories of individuals with preventable illnesses, dying

These scenarios are in complete contrast with some of the countries of poor health care system. One of these countries is Nigeria which has been suffering from a stagnant health care system. Its people either have limited access to health care or none at all. Many blame this problem to the prevalence of fake drugs, AIDS epidemic and the unhealthy lifestyles of the people while others point at the lack of health policy as the culprit.

Did you know “AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa” (Quinn, online). Twenty percent of Africa’s population has died from AIDS. Poverty is a big problem in Africa. Men have been forced to become migrant workers in urban areas. And antiretroviral treatment at this time is not available to African people. AIDS is a big problem in Africa today that is now requiring help from the world.

During the Civil War, There some change that occurred affecting either side in various forms and ways. Significant changes in the medicinal field occurred. “At the start of the Civil War, medical resources, supplies and knowledge were hardly up to the intense danger posed by the wounds, infections, and diseases which plagued millions on both sides”. Some treatments caused the conditions to become worse than originally. SOME soldiers survived treatments and went

Have you ever wondered how medicine during the Civil war is different than how it is now? During the Civil War there wasn’t much medicine. It was known as the Middle Age of Medicine. Diseases went through the camps really fast which was the main cause of death. Doctors didn’t know much about diseases and medicine at this time.

The poor areas have many less doctors than the wealthy spots, even though the rural areas suffer from much harsher diseases on a larger scale. The countries either provide medical training for their own citizens or fund their training from somewhere else, but once the students have the skills to save lives, they move to different places for higher pay. This issue lies not only in South Africa, but in the entire continent. For example, for every Liberian doctor working in Liberia, there are two working abroad. Not only is there a shortage of doctors in general (averaging about 1.15 doctors for every 1,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa) but a shortage of nurses and midwives. Over two-thirds of mothers in Africa have no health professionals to guide them through hardships regarding pregnancy and childbirth, causing Africa alone to be responsible for over one half of the world’s infant and maternal

Although the increased movement of people, food, and manufactured goods can have negative impacts on public health by providing a sort of highway for the spread of infectious disease, in contrast, it can also have a great positive impact. This movement can also include the increased ease of movement of people like doctors and engineers that can help to improve an otherwise cut-off region, the availability of fresh foods to areas that wouldn't normally have access during certain times of the year, and the increased east of movement of manufactures goods such as medicines. For this reason, the reduction of flow would most certainly have a much more negative affect on public health at this point in time. Instead, other options to control the negative affects must be explored. One such option would be the increased implementation of a better inspection and sterilization process for imported and even exported goods. In conjunction, a better global education system could be developed

In addition to practicing medicine, I aspire to dedicate myself to improving access to healthcare. Acquiring the skills to practice clinical medicine is fruitful when patients are able to receive the needed care, as demonstrated by JD’s case. I gained a deeper understanding of the challenges in accessing healthcare internationally through the research I conducted in

The Liberian Government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW), the caretaker of the nation’s health services and advocate for children’s health and welfare has prioritized improving its health sector. However, the colossal task of bringing the health system back to pre-civil war years has become a formidable challenge. Besides, the limitation of services to both the rural and urban poor, the health system lacks trained medical personnel, including technicians, nurses and doctors (Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI. 2016).

Good, accessible healthcare has always been a part of my life. This summer I got to see firsthand that this is not the case for everyone. I knew disparities in healthcare were prevalent in the world, but seeing it in person instead of reading about it in a global health textbook opened up a whole new door for me. As I have reflected on these experiences, I have come to the realization that me becoming a doctor is not about “me” necessarily. I have the opportunity to gain a good education and contribute to this world, which many people do not have, and I cannot think of a better way to do this than to help improve health. With my medical degree, I want to go and work in Zambia, and really any other country which faces large disparities in access to quality health care because I have been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to enter the medical profession and it is time I use the resources I have to help the global community solve this issue.

Globalization has an Immense impact on health because of the spread of people, food, and manufactured goods. In today's era, we travel more than before and so does our food. This travel can lead to the spread of disease by people coming more in contact with each other from different parts of the world. Mosquitos could accidentally board a plane or food caring disease could be shipped to another country. Not only in today's era has this happened but since ancient times we have been susceptible to diseases from travel. Smallpox and the bubonic plague killed many of the world's population. These diseases were mostly caused by the travel on ships or the diseases in rats and lack of medical knowledge from the people. The first step to reducing global disease is surveillance. With surveillance, we can better monitor new spreads of disease around the world. Immunizations are very helpful because they can help prevent the body from receiving any harmful diseases. Research is necessary because we can

I was born in Monrovia, Liberia. Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa that had endured a civil war from 1989 -2005. Liberia infrastructures are in ruins because of the civil war. Mostly, Importantly the Liberian medical infrastructure is non-existent. Liberia has only one medical school, and there are only 173 doctors in Liberia, a country with about 2.8 million citizens. Liberia medical infrastructure put to the test during the Ebola outbreak of 2014. The world watched as the Liberian medical apparatus collapse under its own weight. For example, there weren't enough medical facilities to facilitate Ebola patients. The Liberian government shut down schools, so they could be just as makeshift clinics. An estimated 5000 Liberians

Global authorities should not just focus their efforts on only one certain country, in fact it would be smart to branch out and help another country when in need. For instance, it would may be completely justified for the CDC to go into a third-world country and provide them with the resources they need in order to save lives and even stop the transmission of the infection. The collection of biological specimens is completely ethically vindicated under certain regulations. FirstlyHowever, the collection of the specimens should be strictly regulated by government agencies. Strict regulation would prevent the possibility of bioterrorism. Secondly, governments should only provide the specimens to qualified researchers with their only purpose to study the effects of the disease, thus learning how to prevent future outbreaks. The obligation of front line healthcare workers can be a touchy subject. Generally speaking, healthcare workers know that they are risking a lot by treating sick individuals, it is their job. If healthcare workers practice safe methods to help stop the transmission between the sick to and the workers, then they can focus on trying to save afflicte’s patient’s lifeves. All things considered, when dealing with the dilemma of what should be our responsibility and in respondingse to emerging disease

As a social worker, one could aim to connect health care facilities in Zambia, where 1 in 5 children are dying from malaria, to Doctors without Borders, a resource sharing the privileges of modern medicine with participating countries (Harrison, et al., 2005). The doctors participating could provide the local doctors with new information on healthcare and possible prevention methods for contracting malaria including updated vaccinations and treatment. This would connect those without access to such resources to good healthcare and promote social justice by potentially decreasing the child mortality rate of children with

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world that is most affected by HIV/AIDS. The United Nations reports that an estimated 25.4 million people are living with HIV and that approximately 3.1 million new infections occurred in 2004. To put these figures in context, more than 60 percent of the people living with the infection reside in Africa. Even these staggering figures do not quite capture the true extent and impact that this disease causes on the continent. In 1998, about 200,000 Africans died as a result of various wars taking place on the continent. In that same year, more than 2 million succumbed to HIV/AIDS (Botchwey, 2000).