I chose this topic because I found out that children die in developing countries where immunizations are not available in enough supply to protect the population. It is meaningful to me because it guided me to the question, "Shouldn't public health be universal over the world?"
"Cholera has killed over 6,500 Haitians in the past year, and nearly half a million people — about 5% of the country’s population"( Zimmerman, 2010, para 1). During my research, I visited the Partners In Health website. Their program called "Stand With Haiti" is helping Haitians to build medical centers and bring their sanitation levels up and so on. The videos we can watch at http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti/one-year/care-in-the-camps are shocking. Their houses have serious sanitation issues and a woman in the video says that once there is a Cholera outbreak, people run away from their homes because they are afraid to get infected.
What I have learned may impact my future work because I might want to work for or with an organization like PIH personally and I certainly would like to teach my future students what we can do to help each other’s public health.
References
Rachel Zmmerman. Wbur.org. One Year Later: Cholera Keeps Rising In Haiti, Vaccine On The Way.2010.Retrieved on November 2011, from http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2011/10/one-year-later-cholera-keeps-rising-in-haiti/
Partners In Health. Retrieved on November 2011, from http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti/one-year/care-in-the-camps
This is a very important and topic that is becoming more and more controversial these day due to the claim that vaccinations cause autism and as diseases, such as whooping cough, are making a comeback. I find it interesting that all children need to be vaccinated to enter school however; they can waive the vaccinations due to religious beliefs. This is something I see occurring more often and is easy for anyone to do. When my son was born I had a few friends who were also new mothers and they often preached to me about how bad it was to get my son vaccinated. Luckily, I did lots of research on this topic and I knew it was important to vaccinate, however new mothers who aren’t knowledgeable on the topic can be easily persuaded to follow the crowd. I think that is one of the most challenging parts of being pregnant-listening to others opinions and deciding what is fact and fiction. It is important for moms- to- be to do research and decided what is best for their child.
ReplyDeleteAya,
ReplyDeleteWorking at a hopsital I see parents refusing to have there children immunized for multiple reasons. I personally feel that these children are being put a risk. The most used excuse is Thimerosal causes Autism. Multiple reports have been put out exspellig original myths. Alternative shot schedule were made and still I see the most skipped set of shots are those for two year olds.
Refences:
Sciencedirect
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379703001132
Aya,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this information about immunizations. I have heard all of the information about shots causing autism, etc., and I have always thought "it would be be better to live with autism than to die of a preventable disease". I admire your heart in wanting to work with these impoverished countries to help stop the spread of disease. Keep up the good work!
~Amanda
I also investigated and read extensively about immunization. It is a big isssue everywhere especially in developing countries where the vaccines are not readily available. World Health Organisation (WHO) is playing a leading role to ensure that the children of the world are protected from the diseases that are preventable like smallpox, polio, measles, malaria etc.
ReplyDelete