Ebola Virus Disease in Healthcare Policy - Research Paper Example

Ebola in Health Care Policy Name Institution The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is an often fatal and severe human illness transmitted from wild animals and spread within human populations through human-to-human contact (Acton, 2012). The ongoing disease outbreak came into the limelight in March 2014, and has turned out to be the most severe, widespread and complex one ever. Its fatalities have been greater that the numbers in all previous breakouts combined since 1976 (United Nations, 2014). The fight against Ebola is guided by the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) policy, and the United States has of late made greater commitments to it (Acton, 2012). The current challenges faced are the result of weaknesses in policy response, but can be reversed with greater focus on implementation. This paper discusses the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the policy responses to it by United Nations on behalf of the international community, and the US government. The International Community’s Response The present Ebola outbreak is unique because it is located only in West Africa. This is unlike in the past when outbreaks were in central and eastern parts of the continent. A number of health personnel have been victims, with some already dead (Shulman, 2014). The United Nations (2014) explains that so far, there is no licensed treatment to neutralize the virus. However, there is a wide range of immunological, drug and blood therapies that are still being developed. Vaccines have not been developed yet, but two are being evaluated. The main international policy response, through the WHO seeks to prevent further outbreaks by ensuring surveillance and offering support to the countries that are most at risk in enhancing their preparedness. The core of current policy is the boosting of surveillance, contact tracing, case management, infection control, community engagement, logistical support, laboratory services and ensuring safe burial (WHO, 2014). The challenge of managing it however still remains. Siddonsaug (2014) explains that according to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a continuation of the current trends would lead even greater infection figures in the coming days. The WHO policy aims at support for the affected communities while monitoring progress. It seeks to engage local and international stakeholders. It deploys experts and mobilizes mobile clinics and laboratories and tries to strengthen the preparedness of neighboring countries. The organization specifically pursues strengthening of field response to the outbreak through having local multidisciplinary response teams in every hot spot. It provides protective equipment, laboratory supplies and care to the patients. In addition, there is the attempt to break transmission chains by means of case investigation, active surveillance, tracing of contact and following up on cases. There is a Public Relations policy in which there is managing of the effort’s reputation and securing support through social mobilization hence strengthened coordination at every level. As an objective also, the WHO seeks support efforts to develop new medical interventions and treatments. Preparedness of high risk countries is at the center of the strategy. Plans are to be tested and active surveillance improved, in addition to building the capacity of laboratories (WHO, 2014). The United States’ Policy Response For the United States, the risk of the outbreak reaching the country is absolutely low. However, there is the need for authorities to ensure that it never happens. The government through the CDC is in active collaboration with the United Nations, a number of American government agencies and various international and domestic partners, leading to the launch of an Emergency Operations Center that coordinates control activities and technical assistance (Shulman, 2014). According to Belluz (2014), Ebola has been acknowledged by the government to be a real global threat. The government has for instance identified it as a global security threat because if the affected countries end up breaking down or the people panic, the effect will be felt by everyone including those not directly affected. Considering that the challenge is already getting out of hand, the CDC has been mobilized into a major international response to Ebola. The government opted to commit about $175 million to controlling the spread of the disease in West Africa, in addition to having over 3,000 troops to handle the relief aspect of the operation. The US government seeks to increase the number of health care centers and workers within the region and help in recruiting the necessary staff while also offering training. The USAID is to distribute medical supplies and sanitizers to vulnerable households and the government seeks to further fund experimental drug research. Prior Weaknesses in Policy Implementation Shortcomings in the international community’s response have partly contributed to the difficulty in the current situation. According to Sifferlin (2014), slow response was a problem. Some time in April 2014 for instance, the outbreak seemingly subsided. Everyone was relieved, and even though some scientists openly doubted the progress, they were ignored. It reappeared and spread across densely populated areas of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia and the outcome is still yet to be reversed. The public health emergency was declared five months late when a thousand deaths had occurred. A humanitarian response on its part took two more months to be set up. There have not been structures to ensure quick deployment of medical teams. The WHO and CDC are well involved in tracking the spread of disease and application of technology in making projections of spread. None of them however is involved in treatment or has medical practitioners that may be deployed. The option of reliance on the military is a good indicator of this weakness. There is need to have a health response structure that can be likened to the military ones, and these should be deployable to the poorer parts of the world whenever necessary. There is no approved cure or drug for Ebola. This is however not because there is no innovation. A number of drugs have been under research for years, but due to lack of financing associated with absence of financial incentives for pharmaceutical firms to involve themselves. Ethical Issues Arising Various ethics-related matters are linked to the fight against Ebola. One of these has been the previous slow response to the challenge. Acton (2012) explains that ideally, any state that has greater capacity has the humanitarian responsibility of offering assistance to others in desperate need, as is the case with the Ebola outbreak. It should not only be when a citizen suffers that the response is sought). However, according to Siddonsaug (2014), there is the question of whether the international community was ever serious about dealing with the problem, or it is just after two Americans were infected that the world realized there was a deadly outbreak. The issue of experimental drug therapy raised ethical questions (Krech & Kieny, 2006). According to Weintraub (2014), the two Americans were given about a half of all the supply of the experimental drug available, and which could have helped to change everything about the disease. Questions arose as to whether it was proper to give them that and none other of the thousands facing death in West Africa. There further exist some doubts on if the drug really helped the patients. This is because harm can either arise from the infection or from taking an unproven intervention. Lastly, there is the issue of cultural sensitivity. According to Sifferlin (2014), the overlooking of cultural sensitivity was a major impediment to policy. There was for instance the ignoring of primary health care, and measures did not include the communities. Response programs were simply rolled out, with instructions being given to the people on what to avoid doing. There was minimal effort in ensuring the people trusted the initiatives or were fully engaged in them, for instance in the case of physical contact between the dead and the mourners. Recommendations Most of the previous weaknesses in policy have been addressed in the WHO’s Strategic plan for July-December 2014. However, to strengthen it further, the organization should continue seeking the willingness of nations and building of capacity for Ebola vaccine development. The public health bodies in each country should also increase their prediction and surveillance of cases so as to avoid being caught off-guard by outbreaks (Teckman, 2013. The use of the internet in gathering information will also enhance the effort. Ross (2014) explains for instance that while the CDC and WHO usually publish relevant information about such outbreaks, it tends to be compiled long afterwards. The tracking of cases is complex, hence the need to have a better prediction mechanism. When the WHO formally declared the current outbreak, more than 80 people had already been diagnosed and 59 of them had died. Artificial Intelligence Software has the ability of processing data in different languages sourced from thousands of websites’ pages within a few minutes. Disease-monitoring sites for instance Health Map is able to pick information from both formal and informal sources within the internet for use in tracking of disease outbreaks. The application of social media is so far useful in this perspective. Nations, through the relevant global bodies should increase the sharing of resources and information in dealing with the disease. According to Teckman (2013), collaboration should form the basis of any strategy, so that as soon as a likely case of Ebola comes up, the information is rapidly shared so as to mobilize the most resources possible to fighting it. There should also be the enhancement of bio-security infrastructure so that countries, especially those in commonly affected areas can have the necessary capacity to deal with any outbreak. Ebola has so far been affecting developing countries. Research is on its part generally does not favor poor countries. Even when a lot of resources are committed to such research in the developed world, health issue research is inadequate in the developing nations. The pharmaceutical industry also focuses more on health issues affecting developed nations because it is where business prospects are favorable. There should therefore be an increased funding for research, especially for problems specifically facing the developing countries. Policies should also focus on boosting surveillance, detection and identification of Ebola. One way of doing this would be collaboration with wildlife management institutions, so as to know when epidemics arise and therefore limit their spread to human beings through sensitization. Global institutions need to especially assist their African counterparts through resource sharing, whether human, technological or financial. This is because at times there is the challenge of even supplies while dealing with emergencies in the economically weaker nations. Governments, global public health institutions and non-governmental organizations will need to work together more closely in the effort. Communication between them should be strengthened and misinformation fought. Focus should not only be on dealing with outbreaks but also their investigation (Acton, 2012). According to Shulman (2014), early identification, speedy laboratory confirmation, provision of environmental decontamination and protective equipment are important elements in policy. Considering the increasing globalization and relatively easy international travel, it is very likely that at some point the disease will reach countries in which it is considered unlikely. Preparedness should therefore be emphasized. Conclusion Ebola is a serious health challenge that has grown to be a global issue. The scale of damage it is causing requires a reevaluation of the policies pursued in dealing with it, so as to eliminate weaknesses. There have been some shortcomings in the approaches adopted earlier, and ethical issues have even led to questioning of the international community’s willingness to deal with it. However, the WHO has responded to this in its latest action plan, and the United States has pledged a lot of input into the effort. What remains is the mobilization of nations to handle the West African crisis while also ensuring preparedness in areas where the disease has not reached. Policy should always emphasize promote communication and coordination, while calling for more research funding and community mobilization. Full implementation of the policies will ensure greater success in the effort. References Acton, Q. (2012). Ebola Virus: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional. Atlanta: Scholarly Editions Belluz, J. (2014).Why Obama is Committing 3,000 Troops to Fight Ebola. Retrieved on 27 September 2014 from Krech, R and Kieny, M. (2014). The 2014 Ebola Outbreak: Ethical Use of Unregistered Interventions. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Vol. 92 (9): 622 Ross, P. (2014). Ebola Outbreak: How the Internet Is Changing The Way Health Officials Predict Deadly Epidemics. Retrieved on 27 September 2014 from Shulman, S. (2014). What, Ebola Here? Pediatric Annals. Vol. 43 (9): 332 – 333 Sifferlin, A. (2014). The 5 Biggest Mistakes in the Ebola Outbreak. Alexandra. Retrieved on 27 September 2014 from Siddonsaug, A. (2014).US and Global Efforts to Contain Ebola Draw Criticism at Congressional Hearing. Retrieved on 27 September 2014 from Teckman, A. (2013). The Bioterrorist Threat of Ebola in East Africa and Implications for Global Health and Security. Retrieved on 27 September 2014 from United Nations. (2014). Ebola Virus Disease: Fact Sheet N°103. Retrieved on 27 September 2014 from Weintraub, K. (2014). Experimental Ebola Therapies Raise Ethical Questions. Retrieved on 27 September 2014 from WHO. (2014). WHO Strategic Action Plan for Ebola Outbreak Response. Geneva: United Nations Read More