Question

how well do public health professionals deal with mental health, communicable disease spread and safety risk to individuals affected by natural disasters?

Answer 1

Ans) Natural disasters are tragic incidents originating from atmospheric, geologic and hydrologic changes. In recent decades, millions of people have been killed by natural disasters, resulting in economic damages.

Natural and complex disasters dramatically increase the mortality and morbidity due to communicable diseases. The major causes of communicable disease in disasters are categorized into four sections: Infections due to contaminated food and water, respiratory infections, vector and insect-borne diseases, and infections due to wounds and injuries. With appropriate intervention, high morbidity and mortality resulting from communicable diseases can be avoided to a great deal.

- Most frequent activities and services available through local health departments include:

Adult immunizations
Childhood immunizations
Communicable/infectious disease surveillance
Tuberculosis screening and treatment
Food service establishment inspection
Environmental health surveillance
Food safety education
Sexually transmitted disease treatment
School/daycare center inspection
Population-based nutrition service
State health departments can provide the following services:

Screening for diseases and conditions:
Treatment for diseases
- Technical assistance and training for local health departments and citizens
- Lab services
Epidemiology and surveillance
Public health professionals and infection preventionists working in public health try to prevent problems from happening or recurring through implementing educational programs, recommending policies, administering services and conducting research – in contrast to clinical healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses, who focus primarily on treating individuals after they become sick or injured.

Examples of the roles of infection preventionists in public health settings:
- Lead and participate in clinics (for example: childhood vaccinations, sexually transmitted diseases, influenza vaccination) that aim to prevent or decrease infectious disease transmission.
- Assess health trends and risk factors of groups and determine priorities for targeted interventions.
- Providei into programs that monitor, anticipate, and respond to public health problems in population groups, regardless of which disease or public health threat is identified.
- Work with communities or specific population groups within the community to develop public policy and targeted health promotion and disease prevention activities.
- Participate in assessing and evaluating the healthcare needs of the public to ensure people are aware of programs and services and can access these services.
-Provide health education, care management, and primary care to individuals and families who are at high risk for certain infections.