Public Health Issues

WE CAN'T FIGHT THIS VIRUS WITH A VACCINE  There's been so much expression of hope and optimism for a COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, researchers are working on about 100 vaccines. Vaccines, as we know it, stimulates the immune system  to produce antibodies that will fight against a particular disease. But the question is, "what if the vaccines in the works now don't work?" “What if after the development of a vaccine people resist it?” Vaccine development is a rigorous one and takes years to come through. Reliance on the manufacture and subsequent use of COVID-19 vaccine could be a catastrophic failure if we don't have a robust national strategy and plan to combat this virus. It has already been shown that the US has no national strategy for COVID-19. Rather, the federal government has punted the ball to the states.  There's little the state can do. But the states of New York and California have shown tremendous leadership when it comes to the containment of C...

On April 3, 2020, I  wrote: IN ADDITION TO….(LETTER TO COVID-19 PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE) COVID-19 is a pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Today, this virus is in over a hundred and fifty countries in the world. Global number of cases has risen to over 1 million. Case mortality is about 50,000.  Though China, South Korea, Spain, and Germany have bent the curve of COVID-19, USA is yet to get its act together. Truth is not being told about testing, person protective equipments (PPE), stay-at-home orders, etc. Focus has, mainly, been on saving the economy and not on those who rev the economy. Without people, there will be no economy.  Nigeria countered the Zika virus when the world thought we wouldn’t. So, I know we can battle, curtail and contain COVID-19. But, in doing this, we should not copy the US. Reason: the US is not leading in the fight against this very virus. While our help comes from God, we should also look at what Germany and South Korea...

On March 26, 2020, I wrote: AFTER "STAY-AT-HOME" ORDER, WHAT NEXT? COVID-19 has exposed the absolute leadership failure in America, especially at the federal government level. From lack of empathy in crisis moment to zero inspirational words from the president of the United States.  At times like this, leaders rise up to the occasion armed with truth, facts, and inspiring words that will propel citizens to do more for the country, even without being asked. California, Colorado, New York and a few other states have asked its citizens to stay at home to slow the spread of this virus. But the real question is, what next, after this order expires? Will it be business as usual? Will bars and restaurants open for business? Will Uber and Lyft drivers pick and drop off passengers to and from their respective destinations? Will workers who administer food stamps and Medicaid be asked to see their vulnerable population? Will Silicon Valley be asked to operate as before? What next? The ...

http://www.healthcanal.com/infections/54277-preempting-the-spread-of-ebola.html

This flooding wahala in my native land Environmental disasters are natural occurrences. Preventable at times. Sometimes, unavoidable. Nigeria is blessed with good weather, climate conditions, and less extreme natural disasters when set side-by-side with some Asian, African, and North American countries. This has made ecological and environmental issues the cynosure of contemporary debate: a debate that has transmogrified into political debacle and devastation by the recent exchanges by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN). In any case, let these parties know that as they fight, they grass is suffering. The concern of all should be on the immediate and long-term fallout of the recent flooding and the much anticipated one if the West Camerounian Lake Nyos disintegrates as has been predicted by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). According to NEMA, if Lake Nyos opens up, states like Akwa Ibom,Cross River, Rivers, Delta, Bayels...

What homelessness has got to do with it Emerging challenges facing modern-day public health efforts includes bioterrorism, globalization, urbanization, aging population, HIV/AIDS, food borne pathogens, tuberculosis, malaria, technological advancements, climate change, obesity, and environmental pollution. However, I wish to add homelessness to this long list of 21 st century public health challenges. This is why. Homelessness and housing add up to the cataclysmic surge in HIV/AIDS transmission thereby exposing neighborhoods, communities, counties, states, and nations (Wolitski, Kidder & Fenton, 2007). In the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), approximately 37% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or unsure-identifying youths and 22% of heterosexual youths reported having spent a night homeless in the past 12 months ( Rice, Fulginiti, Winetrobe, Montoya, Plant, & Kordic, 2012). Because homelessness is an emerging publi...

West Nile: The Dallas Experience The current outbreak of West Nile disease in Dallas, TX calls for re-evaluation of our preparedness to emergency health care events. In this particular incident, expectations were that the public health system will do greater good for the community, and the population under the radar (Moore, Shiell, Noseworthy, Russell, Predy, 2006). Take for example the outbreak of SARS in Toronto, Canada, the preparedness, readiness, and the capacity to contain and respond to this outbreak produced positive outcome. It was a fortunate experience for Canadians. So the question is: did the Dallas Department of Public Health and Environment rely on fortune or were there infrastructures on ground to address the threat of such an emerging infectious disease? Looking outwardly, are there mechanisms in your locality, county, state, and country, continent to prevent and control the outbreak of infectious diseases of any kind? What are the commitments of the feder...