Policy Development to Eradicate Yellow Fever in Angola On July 4th , 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) (2016) reported the Republic of Angola experienced 3,552 suspected cases (875 laboratory confirmed and 355 deaths) of Yellow Fever (YF) in all 18 of its provinces. On the global health risk front, new cases of YF in people travelling from Angola were reported in China (11 cases), Democratic Republic of Congo (59 cases), Kenya (2 cases), Mauritania (1 case), and Namibia (1 case), despite International Health Regulations (IHR). WHO classified the outbreak as grade two emergencies and provided extensive support for disease surveillance, mass vaccination campaigns, social mobilization, and vaccination of travelers to control the outbreaks and prevent the global spread of the disease. This policy proposal will examine the vulnerable population, the issues of concern, evaluate existing policies, risk assessment for change, stakeholders involved, recommendations for change, and cost analysis or benefits for the proposed action plan.
Population and Geographic Area
Angola is located in Southern Africa, bordered by Namibia in the South, Democratic Republic of Congo to the North, Zamibia to the East, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. Angola’s narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to high internal plateau, with rainforests in the north and dry savanna desert in the south (Ministry of Health (MoH),2016). Luanda, the capital lies on the Atlantic coast along the northwest of the
We live in a country where all children go to school to gain an education and 25% of them will go onto receive some type of college degree. Compare this to low-income countries, in which children are 16 times as likely to die prior to their fifth birthday (Nickitas, Middaugh & Aries, 2016). Beyond the lens of our smartphones, Facebook friends and Nike sneakers is a world full of desperate people wishing to have enough food to eat for today. Many parts of the world lack sanitation, safe housing, sparse medical care and no medication. The global health issue are everyone’s problems not only for the sake of altruism but, with the increase in global travel for routine business and pleasure, dangerous pathogen are no longer confine by boarders. The Ebola outbreak four years ago, proved the necessity of a global solution to global health issues. The collaborative practice of several world health agencies and economically developed countries along with the use of volunteers, statistical updates, the latest literature and practices kept this outbreak mostly contained to its region of origin and the death toll to approximately 11,000 people (mainly in West Africa) (WHO,
Summary: The yellow fever outbreak that took place in Africa this past year was a hidden disaster which exposed the flaws in the emergency vaccine supply. The epidemic essentially exposed a race between the mosquitos that spread yellow fever and the vaccines that protect people against yellow fever. Early in December 2015 in Africa, the first few deaths by yellow fever were misdiagnosed as merely food poisoning. As soon as the true culprit was exposed, emergency stockpiles of vaccines were exhausted before a small region was protected. However, the outbreak was mitigated due to the help of a colossal vaccine campaign that stretched the supplies by diluting vaccine doses all thanks to special donors such as Brazil and South Sudan. This outbreak barely got any coverage or attention due to the focus being on the Zika Virus epidemic. The yellow fever virus reached Asia via workers who worked in Africa; if the virus got a base in Asia, it would have been very traumatic. The virus was spreading to major
Angola, formerly Portuguese West Africa, is the seventh largest country in Africa. The country can be divided into three major regions: the coastal plain, a transition zone, and the vast inland plateau. Angola has a tropical climate with its vegetation including tropical rain forests, savannas, grasslands, palm trees and even deserts. A great variety of animal life ranging from elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, and even crocodiles can also be found in this African country (Microsoft 1).
The 1878 yellow fever epidemic in Memphis proved to be fatal, killing almost all who got infected. The disease traveled up from New Orleans infecting and killing many on its way. Memphis was going through reconstruction and was becoming the center for merchants and travelers. Furthermore, Memphis began to become overly populated only increasing the devastation that would be caused by the yellow fever. This was a confusing period were even medical professionals did not know where the disease came from or how they could to stop it. The epidemic caused panic and challenged the state government of Tennessee and made changes to it that are still in effect today.
In late 2013, Ebola virus disease (EVD), a deadly and lethal disease, remerged in West Africa spreading to various countries in the region. In humans, the disease is spread through contact with infected bodily fluids leading to haemorrhagic fever (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Originating in 1976 in equatorial Africa, past outbreaks with a few hundred cases had been contained within rural, forested areas in Uganda and Congo (Piot, 2012). In 2014, a total of 20, 206 cases and 7,905 deaths were reported to have occurred in up to eight countries worldwide. Of all cases and deaths resulting from the disease, 99.8% occurred in three neighbouring West African countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (WHO, 2014). With a case fatality rate from about 50% to 90%, and the absence of preventative or curative therapies, the Ebola epidemic has led to overall global alarm and further elucidated existing global health disparities that perpetuated the epidemic with these West African countries.
Humphreys, however, takes a political approach in “Yellow Fever and the South,” focusing on governmental actions outside of the realm of the courtroom. Her work is composed of a detailed outline of the development of public health in the South and the subsequent tension that manifested between federal and state powers. Humphreys asserts that public health in the South was born in response to the frequent yellow fever outbreaks in urban environments where there was “overcrowding, putrefying organic matter, and the excavation of soil for construction.” Sanitary reform, along with quarantine, was an often attempted mechanism of epidemic prevention. Sanitation efforts were difficult given the fierce belief in laissez-faire government, the conflation
What was usually a disease contained in regions of sub-Saharan Africa became a global worry. Although the outbreak started in Guinea, it quickly spread to two neighboring countries. From these three countries, cases were then transmitted to the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom. No vaccine was available to stop the spread of Ebola. This deadly disease went from being a problem in only a small region of the world to being seen in three noncontiguous countries, which could have sowed the seeds of a pandemic had the cases not been contained. As a global community, we gain from our interactions with all citizens, but we must also be aware that we can also suffer from diseases that we think of as only affecting the “others.” If we do not help those “others,” we may become part of
UNICEF officer, Suzanne Mary Beukes provided a clearer insight to how poor the country of Guinea is when she wrote, "The world has virtually quarantined a country in which 43 percent of people were already living on less than $1.25 a day prior to this health crisis” (Gholipour, 2014). The countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (the countries where outbreaks primarily occurred), are some of the poorest countries in the world as a result of their recent civil war and the damaged health and education infrastructures that followed. (“Factors that Contributed to the Spread of Ebola,” n.d., para. 10). The poor infrastructures led to the delayed transportation of patients and lab work to labs and hospitals in addition to the lack of communication between health facilities. In addition to the lack of health facilities, there was shortage of healthcare workers. “Prior to the outbreaks, the three countries (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) had a ratio of only one to two doctors per nearly 100,000 population” (“Factors that Contributed to the Spread of Ebola,” n.d., para. 15). The poverty in these cities and countries lead people to want to move to a better standard of living, be treated for the virus, and look for food &
Now, vaccinations are recommended for those who want to travel to some parts in South America and Africa (mayoclinic, 2014). Only a safe and very effective vaccine can prevent the Yellow Fever. Five of the most common preventions are being aware of peak mosquito hours (which is usually from dusk to dawn), wearing proper clothing (like long sleeved shirts and long pants), avoiding outside exercises when mosquitoes are active, being in air-conditioned or well screened houses and using an EPA registered repellent (CDC, 2014).
The Yellow Fever virus came from Central or East Africa. With transmission between primates and humans, the virus has been spread from there to West Africa. The virus was probably brought to the Americas with the slave trade ships from 1492 after the first European exploration. The first case of Yellow fever was recorded in Mexico by Spanish colonists in 1648. Consequently, the virus started to spread also in North America. In Philadelphia in 1793, more than the 9% of the population die. The American government had to escape from the city that was the temporary capital. One of the most famous outbreaks happen in Europe in Barcelona in 1821.How explains the article "The 'plague' of Barcelona. Yellow Fever epidemic of 1821", the outbreak of
There has been a large outbreaks of yellow fever and everyone in a warm climate is at risk. There has been ample
The world’s last naturally acquired case of smallpox occurred in Somalia, in 1977. In 1980 smallpox became the world’s first eradicated disease. The main component that led to smallpox’s eradication was the development of an effective vaccine; Edward Jenner developed the world’s first vaccine. Smallpox is no longer a threat due to three reasons: 1) there is an effective vaccine 2) its a lytic virus 3) there is no animal reservoir. This paper will discuss a variety of factors that played a role in eliminating smallpox: 1) is easier to contain as a zoonosis 2) is a crowd disease (spreads at a slower rate through human contact with larger populations) 3) as a lytic virus, it has an incubation period
The records and prediction of the world health organization for the number of people that would be infected by the pandemic in the near future.
Yellow Fever is an infectious viral disease found in tropical and subtropical areas in South America and Africa. It is transmitted through mosquitos that carry the virus. It is common in the designated areas in South America and Africa but is rare in U.S. travelers. It is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings, laboratory testing, and travel history. The symptoms may range from mild self-limited febrile illness to severe liver disease with bleeding. There is no specific treatment for it. The care you take is dependent on your symptoms.
Infections disease prevention and control and communicable and infectious disease risks are important topics that every student nurse should be exposed to during the nursing program. The impact and threats that these infectious diseases cause an effect on society and global level should be studied. Also, the economic principles to nursing and health care that public health contributes to.