Incidents With Environmental Health - Assignment Example

Public Health Word Count 999 Question Environmental Health There are some incidents that happen as a consequence of one party’s fault but there are many others who suffer. Such an incident was held in Newcastle where there was a chemical plant spill. Many lives were endangered and there were many turns to the news that was released (Frangos, 2011). Orica chemical spill took place on 8th August and the residents did not know about it until 11th August. The fault was made by Orica when they did not warn the residents that they have been exposed to a carcinogenic chemical. The Office of Environment and Heritage said that they were not notified until the next morning, even though the plant had been shut down a night before (Johnson, 2011). Orica’s director of specialized regulation said that they did not detect a problem that needed investigation but they do feel disappointed about not informing the government within 24 hours according to the law. Moreover, the NSW Health officer said that the chemical had the potential to cause skin irritation, respiratory problems and lung cancer if the exposure is long term. The Newcastle Lord Mayor said that the delay in informing the government was unacceptable. Though there were no reports of illness but this was greatly going to frighten people. After the spill NSW government said that there will be a penalty for those who fail to inform an incident to the government. There was also upgrading in the legislation allowing the companies from report incidents ‘as soon as practicable’ to reporting them immediately. This tough legislation is the result of the stress and problems caused to the residents because of the communication errors. More strict legislation will make sure that such an incident does not happen again. There will also be a public hearing for the incident in which the public can make public submissions. Thus, in my view, the government has been quite successful in taking action about the communication errors. NWS Health reported that such a chemical was not hazardous to the lives and there were no effect on people’s lives. There were tests being carried out to confirm that, and in the meantime people were advised to take precautions just to stay cautious. The other news stories suggested that when the Orica officials apologized to the residents, the residents were in fact outraged and threw up a bunch of questions towards the officials. Even after getting all the answers the residents were angry and lost trust of the company. In my point of view, the impact of this spill would be long lasting. In every way this spill has caused problems and stress amongst the different parties involved. The company had loosened the trust not only in the eyes of the residents but also in the eyes of those who read and followed the news reports. The negative image would have a long lasting impact on the company’s reputation. This has also caused a fear for those residents who reside near plants. The government agencies would have an impact because of the communication error and the failure to warn the residents about any environmental hazards they were living near. Question 2: Communicable Diseases Communicable diseases are the illnesses which are clinically evident with medical signs and symptoms of the disease caused from the infection, growth or presence of pathogenic biological agents. Tuberculosis is a communicable disease which is spread through the air when another person attacked by tuberculosis coughs sneezes or in any way transmits saliva through the air. Tuberculosis is a very common disease, which at times is asymptomatic and latent but if left untreated it can kill. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is what causes this infectious bacterial disease, and it affects the lungs. However, it can be treated with a six months course of antibiotics (Webber, 2009). Since the disease is becoming more common, one of the WHO Millennium development goals is to “Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of tuberculosis by 2015”. This is because tuberculosis is a threat to many lives globally. 2 million people die every year because of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis spreads through the air, and it is said that if one person is attacked by it, he is sure to spread it to another 10 to 15 people around him causing 5000 deaths every day. WHO has a global plan to reduce deaths caused by tuberculosis in 2015 than 1990. Many patients have been successfully treated under DOTS. Many countries have adopted the DOTS strategy though most do not have access to it (Noah and Mahony, 1998). The DOTS program is Directly Observed Therapy: the name given to the strategy induced by the WHO to stop tuberculosis from growing. The strategy combines five components which are government control, diagnosis and case detection by an effective lab network, standardized treatment under a healthcare worker with full patient support, a regular supply of quality assured drugs and a recording and reporting system which measures the patient outcomes. In this way the DOTS strategy works to reduce the deaths caused by tuberculosis, and its spreading elsewhere. It is predicted that if tuberculosis is not treated, it will cause 30 million people to die in the next 20 years. Measles are treated in a number of days whereas tuberculosis would commonly result in a death which is why the government measures to stop tuberculosis are much more severe and endurable than for measles. Mostly the patient would recover from rest and suggested treatment in measles, the public health measures for measles lies mostly in the prevention of the disease (Ortleb and Cadice, 1993). On the other hand, tuberculosis has special medicines and drugs that need to be used in order to cure, thus there are much more public health programs and campaigns carried out to make sure that most of the patients are cured. Measles are not as complicated as tuberculosis, and this is the main reason why the public measures to stop tuberculosis are on a higher level than measles. The rate of deaths caused by measles has been fallen greatly since 1999 to 2005 as a result of the public measures taken for prevention. There have been public campaigns for vaccines in areas most affected with measles and they have been really helpful. Whereas the campaign for the reduction in deaths caused by tuberculosis is still going on and will be carried out till 2015 until results seen. Question 3: Non Communicable Diseases Non communicable diseases are the non-infectious diseases which are produced in one person’s body itself, without any transfer or infections from others. These diseases might be long lasting, slow progressing and sometimes might cause a sudden stroke. These diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and heart diseases. These are also sometimes called the chronic diseases (Skolnik, 2008). The National Chronic Disease Strategy is the way in which Australia tries to control, prevent and cure the chronic diseases. These diseases have caused many deaths and health problems to many Australians thus this is a national agenda through which Australian government efforts to control the chronic diseases. The National Chronic Disease Strategy manages under the health care system and makes sure that the quality of services provided to the patients are all high standardized and effective. However, they also know that the social and environmental sector also has to join hands in order to prevent these diseases (Commonwealth of Australia, 2010). The National Chronic Disease Strategy use a more practical approach which will be implied on each level from national to the local level. Many others have collaborated in this strategy with the government so that effective results are seen, and a stronger, healthier society is observed in the near future (AIHW, 2011). One of the priority chronic diseases in Australia is the heart disease. The reason why it is a main issue is that there are many causes of this disease, and since heart is the major functioning organ of a human body it is the one which is affected the most easily. The causes of heart problems are some of the many habits that are part of the modern life in Australia. It is caused by obesity, inactivity, bad eating habits and stress. There are plenty of heart centre formed and they are successful in curing heart diseases, but once a person experiences heart diseases, he is tend to be weak for the rest of his life (NHPAC, 2006). It is very important to develop prevention strategies for the heart diseases in the society. Some of the practical ways in which a person can avoid heart problems is to stay active, fit and maintained. Proper exercises, walks and intake of food will also help to prevent heart problems. It has been seen through many experiences that a healthy lifestyle can cure a heart patient best. Thus, it is important to implement a healthy lifestyle to stay away from such health issues. Practical preventions are side by side the clinical medicines in order to avoid the burden of heart diseases (Riegelman, 2009). Question 4: Healthcare Systems A healthcare system is usually a group of people, institution or organization that serves a target population with the medical services that they need. Every nation has their own healthcare system and they have different structures under which they operate. The healthcare systems are planned out including various private organizations and government indulgence. It is a combined effort of the government, private bodies, trade unions and charities who come together in order to serve the people. The healthcare system of the US is considered to be one of the best systems in the world, along with the healthcare system in England, which is also one of the top most systems. Although the main purpose of these two systems is the same; which is to provide maximum health benefits to the nation, but they are entirely different and the way that they manage are different too. The healthcare system in England is largely comprised of the public sector provided by the National Health Service whereas the system in the US is dominated by the private sector. In England, residents are provided with healthcare under the taxes they pay, and in the US there are health insurances that people would usually take up for the healthcare. Since England provides healthcare under the National Health Service, none other can beat the costs at which they provide the healthcare. The taxes are exactly from where the healthcare is provided to them, no matter whether a person is rich or poor, young or old, the taxes are the same for all and so are the health benefits (Greener, 2008). US has many good insurance plans but more vastly for those who can afford them. These may be expensive or the premiums may be a burden for a normal person, but if he cannot pay well, he would not be given the healthcare benefits. People in England have access to doctor whenever they need, no matter what the problem is; big or small. This results in many people going to the doctors for the littlest things and more consumption of healthcare than the funding. Since the medical insurance is not a problem, the people with lesser money can also afford it. In this part, the system in US is more advantageous as they provide the best medical facilities in the world with the top most researchers. They maintain their quality of healthcare. The US and England operate the healthcare systems on different tracks yet are very efficient in the provision of good healthcare. The proportion of health budget allocated to public health in the US is about 15.2% of the GDP and on the other hand, England spends 8.4% of the GDP in the provision of healthcare. The great difference lies because of the fact that the US has a population which is much more than that of England. Both the governments play its role to the fullest regarding this and the private sectors also (Niles, 2010). References Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2011). Development of National Chronic Disease Strategy. Retrieved online from http://www.aihw.gov.au/health-priority-areas/ Commonwealth of Australia (2010). Chronic disease, Retrieved online from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/chronic#nat Frangos, J. (2011). Health risk assessment of hexavalent chromium release at Orica, Kooragang IslandToxikos report: TR200811-JF. Greener, I. (2008). Healthcare in the UK: Understanding Continuity and Change. London: The Policy Press Johnson, S. (2011). “NSW Residents exposed to cancerous chemical”. AAP General News Wire National Health Priority Action Council (NHPAC) (2006), National Chronic Disease Strategy, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra Niles, N. (2010). Basics of the U.S. Health Care System, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning Noah, N. and Mahony, M. (1998). Communicable Disease: Epidemiology and Control. NY: John Wiley and Sons Ortleb, E. and Cadice, R. (1993). Disease & Health. London: Lorenz Educational Press Riegelman, R. (2009). Public health 101: healthy people--healthy population. NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning Skolnik, R. (2008). Essentials of Global Health. NJ: Jones & Bartlett Learning Webber, R. (2009). Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Control: A Global Perspective. London: CABI Read More