Engineering Solutions for Epidemics and Pandemics by Kara Rogers

Author:Kara Rogers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Published: 2019-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Posters such as these, which explain how to protect against Zika virus infection and are presented in different languages, are one way that health officials engage and communicate with the public. Effective communication is essential to the preparation of disease outbreaks.

There are multiple ways in which experts can provide information to people in a community. These include traditional media, such as television, radio, and newspapers, as well as social media. To communicate effectively, health officials must have an understanding of the communities they engage. This awareness includes knowledge of individuals’ beliefs and local traditions. Experts must also be able to deal with misinformation and rumor, which can arise when science, technology, or medical practice challenges peoples’ beliefs.

Engineering Solutions

Despite much effort to prepare for disease outbreaks, health workers and researchers in many countries still struggle to find diseases and prevent them from spreading. To help these countries improve their health security, WHO, in partnership with other groups, offers a process called joint external evaluation (JEE). JEE is a voluntary and collaborative process. It identifies a country’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of its ability to prevent, detect, and respond to disease risks. JEE is very useful for the discovery of gaps in health security. National health officials can then work to fill these gaps. Doing so can result in a more coordinated outbreak action plan, which is important for a quick and effective response.

Many countries have completed JEEs, but few have gone on to develop plans to improve their ability to respond to epidemics. One exception is Tanzania, which used its JEE data to create a national action plan. The country put its new plan to use in 2017 in response to an anthrax outbreak. Outbreaks of anthrax, a disease that is transmitted from livestock to humans, occur frequently in Tanzania. In the past, anthrax cases were underreported, which made containing the disease difficult. Following the development of the country’s action plan, however, health workers were able to bring the 2017 outbreak under control quickly. This response was due largely to better collaboration between individuals from different areas of expertise and quick decision making by response teams. The training of veterinarians in anthrax control measures also played a role.

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