Technology and Scientific Discoveries - Essay Example

"Technology and Scientific Discoveries" is an outstanding example of a paper on the health system.
The setting up of the Laboratory of Hygiene in 18187 at Marine Hospital, Staten Island, New York to carry out research on cholera and other infectious disease was indeed an event of immense importance as it ushered in a scientific temperament into the way epidemics were dealt with and controlled in the United States (HHS, 2013).

The onus goes to the sole member of this laboratory that is Joseph James Kinyoun for highlighting the role played by microscopic organisms in the epidemics that impacted 19th century America. Earlier, poverty and filth were held responsible for causing epidemics, and stress was laid on improving sanitation and unleashing welfare measures. However, Kinyoun being a member of the new generation of scientists interested in studying the link between disease and microorganisms brought in a new vision into the US health services (Morens & Fauci, 2012). It was primarily owing to the efforts of Kinyoun that the germ theory was once again able to gain ground in the United States of America (Winkelstein, 2007). Kinyoun, by the dint of his new vision that was scientific and groundbreaking, played a pivotal role in shaping the way Federal Government dealt with health issues. The one-room Laboratory of Hygiene started by Kinyoun at Staten Island eventually metamorphosed into 27 centers and institutes that evolved into the National Institutes of Health (Winkelstein, 2007).

Kinyoun advocated strongly for the configuration of scientific methods for the production of medicines, the imperative to monitor infectious diseases in the US, and the creation of official bodies that could respond promptly during the spread of epidemics.