Health Policy Brief - Essay Example

Teacher Policy brief on how to protecting healthcare workers will diminish the spread of Ebola to the rest of West Africa To effectively draft a policy on how to protect healthcare workers will diminish the spread of Ebola to the rest of West Africa, it would be necessary to mention that Ebola has no known cure, no vaccine and kills 90% of the patients (www.bbc.co) and that it is highly contagious. In a report by World Health Organization (WHO), it was stressed that health care workers are frequently infected while treating patients with Ebola virus.

“This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced”. Bearing this in mind, the following policy must be adopted by health care workers to diminish the spread of Ebola to the rest of West Africa.a. In the absence of cure, “raising awareness of the risk factors for Ebola infection and the protective measures individuals can take is the only way to reduce human infection and death” and this includes raising awareness among healthcare workers to avoid the spread of the virus.b. All patients who display the symptoms of Ebola virus must be treated as a confirmed case and therefore necessary precaution will be automatically exercised.

These symptoms include “passing fever to malaria, cholera and meningitis. Between two and 21 days, infected people might have red eyes and a rash, or suddenly experience "onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and sore throat", "followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding" (Yuhas).c. No health care worker will treat patients without protective gears such as mask, gloves who have displayed symptoms.

Health care workers must also wash their hands regularly.d. Never make physical contact with patients who are suspected to have Ebola virus.e. Report any case of suspected of contraction of the virus from the patient. f. If an outbreak is suspected in the workplace, area of treatment and other places of outbreak, such place should be quarantined to avoid the spread of the virus. “Culling of infected animals, with close supervision of burial or incineration of carcasses, may be necessary to reduce the risk of animal-to-human transmission.

Restricting or banning the movement of animals from infected farms to other areas can reduce the spread of the disease” (WHO, 2014).g. Nearby communities where there is a suspected outbreak of the virus must be informed about the virulent nature of Ebola virus and how to contain it. These measures include avoid contact with animals, minimize physical contact, enhanced sanitary measures and prompt burial of the dead (including the avoidance of physical contact).Protecting health care workers from the outbreak of Ebola virus will help contain the spread of the virus since it is known that healthcare workers are the most likely group of people who could contract the virus from treating patients with Ebola virus (www.bbc.com, 2014).

Protecting healthcare workers from the virus will help minimize if not totally eliminate the widespread of the virus saving the government precious resources in treating patients.Works Cited"Ebola virus disease." WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.