Epidemics and the Health of African Nations

Epidemics and the Health of African Nations PDF

Author: MISTRA

Publisher: The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA)

Published: 2019-07-25

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 0639995594

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News footage of disease in Africa is a familiar sight. Yet these outbreaks are often presented out of context, with no reference to the conditions that have triggered them. MISTRA’s new book, Epidemics and the Health of African Nations, aims to redress that. Researchers and practitioners from within the continent explore why Africa is so vulnerable to disease, and show how this vulnerability is closely linked to political and economic factors. They demonstrate how these same factors determine the way epidemics are treated. Authors extract lessons from case studies in different parts of Africa; challenge conventional frameworks about disease to argue for a ‘syndemics’ approach that takes into account the interrelationship between disease and political and socio-economic contexts; explore challenges of Africa’s future. They argue that a well-functioning health system is at the core of a country’s capacity to counter an epidemic. This volume brings African experts together to probe possible solutions to the continent’s heavy burden of disease. The insights offered will be helpful in devising policy for the control of disease and the combatting of epidemics in Africa.

Epidemics and the Health of African Nations

Epidemics and the Health of African Nations PDF

Author: MISTRA MISTRA

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2019-07-25

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 0639995616

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News footage of disease in Africa is a familiar sight. Yet these outbreaks are often presented out of context, with no reference to the conditions that have triggered them. MISTRAs new book, Epidemics and the Health of African Nations, aims to redress that. Researchers and practitioners from within the continent explore why Africa is so vulnerable to disease, and show how this vulnerability is closely linked to political and economic factors. They demonstrate how these same factors determine the way epidemics are treated. Authors extract lessons from case studies in different parts of Africa; challenge conventional frameworks about disease to argue for a syndemics approach that takes into account the interrelationship between disease and political and socio-economic contexts; explore challenges of Africas future. They argue that a well-functioning health system is at the core of a countrys capacity to counter an epidemic. This volume brings African experts together to probe possible solutions to the continents heavy burden of disease. The insights offered will be helpful in devising policy for the control of disease and the combatting of epidemics in Africa.

The Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

The Ebola Epidemic in West Africa PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-12-30

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 0309450063

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The most recent Ebola epidemic that began in late 2013 alerted the entire world to the gaps in infectious disease emergency preparedness and response. The regional outbreak that progressed to a significant public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in a matter of months killed 11,310 and infected more than 28,616. While this outbreak bears some unique distinctions to past outbreaks, many characteristics remain the same and contributed to tragic loss of human life and unnecessary expenditure of capital: insufficient knowledge of the disease, its reservoirs, and its transmission; delayed prevention efforts and treatment; poor control of the disease in hospital settings; and inadequate community and international responses. Recognizing the opportunity to learn from the countless lessons of this epidemic, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop in March 2015 to discuss the challenges to successful outbreak responses at the scientific, clinical, and global health levels. Workshop participants explored the epidemic from multiple perspectives, identified important questions about Ebola that remained unanswered, and sought to apply this understanding to the broad challenges posed by Ebola and other emerging pathogens, to prevent the international community from being taken by surprise once again in the face of these threats. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Global to the Local Perspective

Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Global to the Local Perspective PDF

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2001-03-29

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 0309171105

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In October 1999, the Forum on Emerging Infections of the Institute of Medicine convened a two-day workshop titled "International Aspects of Emerging Infections." Key representatives from the international community explored the forces that drive emerging infectious diseases to prominence. Representatives from the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe made formal presentations and engaged in panel discussions. Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Global to the Local Perspective includes summaries of the formal presentations and suggests an agenda for future action. The topics addressed cover a wide range of issues, including trends in the incidence of infectious diseases around the world, descriptions of the wide variety of factors that contribute to the emergence and reemergence of these diseases, efforts to coordinate surveillance activities and responses within and across borders, and the resource, research, and international needs that remain to be addressed.

Socio-cultural Dimensions of Emerging Infectious Diseases in Africa

Socio-cultural Dimensions of Emerging Infectious Diseases in Africa PDF

Author: Godfrey B. Tangwa

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-08-16

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 3030174743

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This volume examines the most important socio-cultural, political, economic, and policy issues related to emerging infectious diseases in Africa. The volume covers the work of the Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment Consortium (GET); it looks at the challenges of science education and communication in Africa, the global health and governance of pandemics and epidemics, and more. It looks beyond such threats as Ebola, SARS, and Zika to consider the ways communities have sought to contain these and other deadly pathogens. The chapters provide a better understanding of a global health problem from an African perspective, which help clarify to readers why some responses have worked while others have not. Overall, the volume captures the state of the art, science, preparedness, and evolution of a topic important to the health of Africa and the world. It has a broad appeal across disciplines, from medical science and biomedical research, through research ethics, regulation and governance, science and health communication, social sciences, and is also of interest to general readers.

Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 9)

Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 9) PDF

Author: Dean T. Jamison

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2017-12-06

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1464805288

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As the culminating volume in the DCP3 series, volume 9 will provide an overview of DCP3 findings and methods, a summary of messages and substantive lessons to be taken from DCP3, and a further discussion of cross-cutting and synthesizing topics across the first eight volumes. The introductory chapters (1-3) in this volume take as their starting point the elements of the Essential Packages presented in the overview chapters of each volume. First, the chapter on intersectoral policy priorities for health includes fiscal and intersectoral policies and assembles a subset of the population policies and applies strict criteria for a low-income setting in order to propose a "highest-priority" essential package. Second, the chapter on packages of care and delivery platforms for universal health coverage (UHC) includes health sector interventions, primarily clinical and public health services, and uses the same approach to propose a highest priority package of interventions and policies that meet similar criteria, provides cost estimates, and describes a pathway to UHC.

Global Health and the Future Role of the United States

Global Health and the Future Role of the United States PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-09-05

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0309457661

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While much progress has been made on achieving the Millenium Development Goals over the last decade, the number and complexity of global health challenges has persisted. Growing forces for globalization have increased the interconnectedness of the world and our interdependency on other countries, economies, and cultures. Monumental growth in international travel and trade have brought improved access to goods and services for many, but also carry ongoing and ever-present threats of zoonotic spillover and infectious disease outbreaks that threaten all. Global Health and the Future Role of the United States identifies global health priorities in light of current and emerging world threats. This report assesses the current global health landscape and how challenges, actions, and players have evolved over the last decade across a wide range of issues, and provides recommendations on how to increase responsiveness, coordination, and efficiency â€" both within the U.S. government and across the global health field.

The Continuing Epidemiological Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Continuing Epidemiological Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-10-01

Total Pages: 47

ISBN-13: 0309266513

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Among the poorest and least developed regions in the world, sub-Saharan Africa has long faced a heavy burden of disease, with malaria, tuberculosis, and, more recently, HIV being among the most prominent contributors to that burden. Yet in most parts of Africa-and especially in those areas with the greatest health care needs-the data available to health planners to better understand and address these problems are extremely limited. The vast majority of Africans are born and will die without being recorded in any document or spearing in official statistics. With few exceptions, African countries have no civil registration systems in place and hence are unable to continuously generate vital statistics or to provide systematic information on patterns of cause of death, relying instead on periodic household-level surveys or intense and continuous monitoring of small demographic surveillance sites to provide a partial epidemiological and demographic profile of the population. In 1991 the Committee on Population of the National Academy of Sciences organized a workshop on the epidemiological transition in developing countries. The workshop brought together medical experts, epidemiologists, demographers, and other social scientists involved in research on the epidemiological transition in developing countries to discuss the nature of the ongoing transition, identify the most important contributors to the overall burden of disease, and discuss how such information could be used to assist policy makers in those countries to establish priorities with respect to the prevention and management of the main causes of ill health. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from a workshop convened in October 2011 that featured invited speakers on the topic of epidemiological transition in sub-Saharan Africa. The workshop was organized by a National Research Council panel of experts in various aspects of the study of epidemiological transition and of sub-Saharan data sources. The Continuing Epidemiological Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa serves as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop in October 2011.

Global Epidemics, Local Implications

Global Epidemics, Local Implications PDF

Author: Kevin J. A. Thomas

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Published: 2019-12-17

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1421432994

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Ultimately, this book shows how these responses underscore the importance of immigrant resources for developing public health interventions.

Human Security and Epidemics in Africa

Human Security and Epidemics in Africa PDF

Author: Andreas Velthuizen

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-04-15

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 1040014755

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This book examines the impact of epidemics in Africa, exploring some of the adaptation and crisis management strategies adopted to tackle COVID-19, Ebola, and HIV-AIDS. The authors reflect on lessons learned from solving complex problems and difficult decisions made by leaders on pandemic management to shape the security environment and, thus, the well-being of people living in Africa for years to come. Drawing on cases from across the continent, the book demonstrates that, significantly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries and communities frequently displayed regional solidarity, creativity in decision-making, decisiveness in dealing with corruption and opportunism, and resilience and discipline in implementation. Adopting a human security framework, the authors share their lived experiences and explore the impact of epidemics on public policy decision-making, foreign policy implementation, global relations, collaboration in the community dimension, and, ultimately, the future of socio-economic development in Africa. This book will be a welcome addition for practitioners and researchers across the fields of security studies, health management, and African studies, making an essential contribution to the security discourse in a post-COVID world.