Question

The essential job of public health agencies is to identify what makes people healthy and what makes them sick, and then take the steps necessary to ensure that the population encounters a maximum of the former and a minimum of the latter.

Describe a successful public health intervention in your community, city, and/or state. Describe the public health problem.

Discuss the public health intervention/initiative.

Use credible research to detail the intervention success and/or failure.

Answer 1

The mortality rates due to malaria in past decades has been high. This summoned a need for a public health intervention that would aim at preventing malaria and reduction in mortality rates due to malaria. For this a public health intervention campaign was launched with active participation of the community members to eliminate malaria..The campaign consists of

• Vector control in the community: The animal vector that is the mosquito responsible for spreading malaria should be destroyed. In order to kill mosquitoes several methods are adopted like use of oil over the stagnant water, prevention of stagnation of water, use of mosquito nets and other repellents, maintaining environmental hygiene, proper disposal of waste, use of insecticides like DDT,fumigation of the community at risk.
• Early identification of the cases: The community was educated about the clinical presentation of the disease and to seek medical aid immediately. Organizing blood test camps can be beneficial.
• Prophylactic distribution of chloroquine tablets in the risk prone areas was practiced.
• Adequate health education among the general population.

The outcome of the intervention was a great success as it lead to decreased number of malaria cases.Researches have shown that a great progress have been made in controlling cases of malaria. It is evidenced by 50% reduction in childhood deaths, 25% reduction in malaria cases and WHO certification of four countries as malaria free.

The development of resistance by the species of Plasmodium towards insecticides and medicines however can cause hindrance to the success of the program. Lack of integration of services and poor approach of the intervention to the community will directly affect the outcome of the initiative.