Compare historical and current features of public health free essay sample

Public health efforts are planning to protect the general health and safety of the population by taking measures to prevent or avoid the transmission of disease. Historically, measures such as quarantines were enforced, where there were no means to vaccinate or inoculate to prevent the spread of a dangerous transmissible disease. In more modern times, vaccines were developed to protect against diseases, and of course, in the case of smallpox, the disease was able to be eliminated in 1979, so theres no longer a need to vaccinate against it. In modern times, there is little reliance on quarantine, though people with multiply-antibiotic-resistant TB and other diseases may be detained and isolated. In the early 19th century, the growing towns of Britain were characterised by overcrowding, poor housing, bad water and disease. In 1842, Edwin Chadwick argued that disease was the main reason for poverty, and that preventing disease would reduce the poor rates. In 1848, a cholera epidemic terrified the government into doing something about prevention of disease, through both public and individual health measures. Further measures included: †¢In 1848 the first Public Health Act caused the setting up of a Board of Health, and gave towns the right to appoint a Medical Officer of Health. †¢In 1853 vaccination against smallpox was made compulsory. †¢In 1854 improvements in hospital hygiene were introduced (thanks in large part to Florence Nightingale). †¢In 1875 a Public Health Act enforced laws about slum clearance, provision of sewers and clean water, and the removal of nuisances. †¢In 1906 local councils were told to provide free school meals for poor children. In 1907 school medical examinations were ordered for all children (among these examinations were those of the nitty nurse). †¢In 1908 Old-age pensions were introduced. †¢In 1911 National Insurance (free medical treatment for workers who fell ill) was introduced. Nineteenth century ?Chicken Pox: this is one of the most common diseases which children are most likely to get. It will emerge in the form of little spots and round. The illness will give you a fever, chills, headaches and sometimes aching in the back and limbs. You will first not notice that you have chicken pox until they appear as spots. This is not the same as small pox this on its own is a distinct disease. Neither vaccination or small pox can protect anyone from getting chicken pox, it is very contagious nor is anyone at risk of catching them. Chickenpox causes a red, itchy skin rash that usually appears first on the abdomen or back and face, and then spreads to almost everywhere else on the body, including the scalp, mouth, arms, legs, and genitals. The rash begins as multiple small red bumps that look like pimples or insect bites, usually less than a quarter of an inch wide. They appear in crops over 2 to 4 days and develop into thin-walled blisters filled with fluid. The blister walls break, leaving open sores, which finally crust over to become dry, brown scabs. The rash is very itchy, and cool baths or calamine lotion may help to manage the itching. Chicken pox may not exist as much now because more people are getting their children vaccinated at a young age to help not to prevent chicken pox, and now we now the actual causes of this and we are now more advanced. ?Cholera: this is one of the most feared diseases, it is infectious, and it is caused by drinking water from a contaminated item. When you get cholera is causes a slowing in the blood circulation and it will cause the skin to become blue and shrunken it can also cause deaths. Some people believe that cholera is caused by eating fruits and vegetables. The most common symptoms of cholera are: †¢extensive, watery diarrhea †¢nausea †¢vomiting †¢muscle cramps Around three-quarters of people who are exposed to cholera bacteria do not develop any symptoms. However, these people can contaminate water by passing faeces that contain bacteria into water, or pass on the disease through poor food hygiene. However, things have changed over time and we now have vaccinations and treatments to help to reduce the number of people with Cholera. There is a vaccine which is given as a drink that protects against cholera. Vaccination is usually only required for: †¢people travelling in remote areas where cholera epidemics are occurring and there is limited access to medical care †¢those intending to visit high-risk areas such as refugee camps or war zones †¢those taking part in disaster relief operations These people include emergency relief workers, members of the armed forces and healthcare workers. It is important to get advice from your nurse or doctor about whether you need a cholera vaccination well in advance of travelling; the vaccine is available free on the NHS. Cholera needs prompt treatment with oral rehydration solution (ORS) to prevent dehydration and shock. ORS comes in a sachet; it is made up of a mixture of salts and glucose, which are dissolved in water. ORS is ideal for replacing the fluids and minerals that are lost when a person becomes dehydrated. As well as treating dehydration and shock with ORS, antibiotics can be used to treat the underlying infection. ORS sachets are available from many pharmacists, camping shops and travel clinics. If you are travelling to regions of the world affected by cholera, take ORS sachets as a precaution. ?Consumption: this is also known as ‘tuberculosis (TB)’ is another common cause of deaths; the word consumption was named as it described the action of the body tissue wasting away. This is highly contagious and the bacteria which it causes is found in milks and other foods and sometimes in the saliva of a person which has the diseases, researchers found out that only direct sunlight will kill the bacteria. In 1882, Robert Koch discovered that the bacteria which caused this disease were barely visible in the human eye, this will cause it to attach and grow in every organ of the body, including the lungs and the brain. This mainly affects the lungs. However, it can affect any part of the body, including the bones and nervous system. Typical symptoms of this include: †¢having a persistent cough for more than three weeks that brings up phlegm, which may be bloody †¢weight loss †¢high temperature (fever) †¢tiredness and fatigue †¢loss of appetite  TB is caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis, it affects the lungs is the only form of the condition that is contagious and usually only spreads after prolonged exposure to someone with the illness. For example, TB often spreads within a family who live in the same house. In most healthy people, the immune system kills the bacteria and you have no further symptoms. However, sometimes the immune system ca nnot kill the bacteria, but manages to prevent it from spreading in the body. This means you will not have any symptoms, but the bacteria will remain in your body. This is known as latent TB. If the immune system fails to kill or contain the infection, it can spread to the lungs or other parts of the body and symptoms will develop within a few weeks or months. This is known as active TB. There is now treatment and vaccination for this, with treatment. A TB infection can usually be cured. Most people will need a course of antibiotics, usually for six months. Several different antibiotics are used; this is because some forms of TB are resistant to certain antibiotics. If you are infected with a drug-resistant form of TB, treatment can last as long as 18 months. If you are in close contact with someone who has TB, tests may be carried out to see if you are also infected. These can include a chest X-ray and blood tests. Vaccination currently, BCG vaccinations are only recommended for groups of people who are at a higher risk of developing TB. This includes children living in areas with high rates of TB or those who have close family members from countries with high TB rates; it is also recommended that some people, such as healthcare workers, are vaccinated due to the increased risk of contracting TB while working. Small pox: this affects people of all ages however; it is especially fatal to young children. This is caused by a virus which makes small blister like bumps on the skin sometimes even the mouth and throat. If this virus makes your throat swell up it can cause difficulty to breath, if you catch this and you survive you will not catch this again. This information was used to find a vaccine to prevent the disease. Smallpox is contagious that means the virus can spread to others. It spreads through tiny drops of an infected persons saliva when the person coughs, talks, or sneezes. Smallpox usually passes from person to person during close, face-to-face contact. If someone does get smallpox, a doctor can recognise the disease because it causes a special kind of rash. The rash shows up as blisters on the skin that fill with fluid and crust over. This might sound like chickenpox, but the blisters look different from the blisters that chickenpox causes. The other symptoms of smallpox are like those of many other less serious illnesses: fever, headache, backache, and feeling tired. A vaccine, a type of shot, can prevent infection with the virus that causes smallpox. Years ago, people were vaccinated against smallpox. Today, smallpox vaccines arent given because nobody has had the disease for many years. This has changed over time because science has improved more, now in the twenty-first century there are more advanced people and scientist and things have improved much more since the nineteenth century. The doctors and scientist have found out more cures and reasons for diseases and they are able to help out more people. Also the NHS is free therefore; more people are able to get free treatment for the diseases or infections that they have. Sanitation and Hygiene: There was a lack of sanitation because at the time the government never took this matter seriously as no one was complaining about the issue. The higher class people never had to live like the lower class and they never had to deal with the poor sanitation because they had the money and the power to live healthy lives and in better conditions. Therefore, the lower class did not complain about the issue as not one would listen to them and even if they did not one will act upon the issue to make it better. When Mr. Black looked into this situation he found out that the sewage system was not correctly working making the environment smell, when he raised this issue to the parliament they acted as if they never had enough money to place a proper sewage system to help improve the environment. Lack of sanitation now affects about 2. 4 billion of the world’s population and is expected to rise to 50% by 2025. Diarrhoea caused by bad sanitation kills nearly 6,000 children a day, an annual toll of two million deaths. People suffering from waterborne diseases occupy half the world’s hospital beds. Already half of Asia’s population lacks adequate sanitation and in China, India and Indonesia twice as many people die from diarrhoeal diseases as from HIV/Aids. In developing countries 80% of all disease results from a combination of poor hygiene, contaminated water and poor sanitation. Parasitic infections are also exacerbated by poor sanitation; the report estimates that 1. 5 billion people have parasitic worm infections. Such worms, whilst they may not cause death, lead to stunted growth and general debilitation. Among the diseases resulting from poor sanitation, unclean water and poor waste disposal are dysentery, cholera, typhus fever, typhoid and trachoma. Sanitation will be affected by the amount of people that are in the population, for example, if there are an increasing amount of people growing in the society there will need to be more sanitation because if they do not fit in more sanitation systems then the old ones will get worn out by being used continually, and over time it will stop working correctly therefore, it is important that the government start to build more sanitation systems so there will be no danger of the society to be exposed to harmful waste because the sanitation system fails to work. On the other hand, if the population decreased there will be no need for loads of sanitation systems and the government will be able to save a lot of money. When you have poor sanitation it can cause diseases such as: †¢Diarrhoea; this caused by different micro-organisms including viruses and bacteria. This causes a person to lose both water and electrolytes, which leads to dehydration and, in some cases, to death. Repeated episodes of diarrhoeal disease makes children more vulnerable to other diseases and malnutrition. Diarrhoea is the most important public health problem directly related to water and sanitation. The simple act of washing hands with soap and water can cut diarrhoeal disease by one-third. Next to providing adequate sanitation facilities, it is the key to preventing waterborne diseases. †¢HIV/AIDS; A hygienic environment, clean water and adequate sanitation are key factors in preventing opportunistic infections associated with HIV/AIDS, and in the quality of life of people living with the disease. AIDS-affected people are more susceptible to water-related diseases than healthy individuals, and they become sicker from these infections than people with healthy immune systems. Maintaining a healthy environment is essential to safeguarding the health, quality of life and productivity of people living with HIV/AIDS. †¢Cholera; Cholera is an acute bacterial infection of the intestinal tract. It causes severe attacks of diarrhoea that, without treatment, can quickly lead to acute dehydration and death. Cholera is a world-wide problem, especially in emergency situations. It can be prevented by access to safe drinking water, sanitation and good hygiene behaviour (including food hygiene). †¢Malaria; Malaria is a serious disease caused by a parasite carried by certain types of mosquitoes. Humans are infected when bitten by the mosquitoes. Reducing the mosquito population in households and communities by eliminating standing water (caused by poor drainage and uncovered water tanks) can be an important factor in reducing malaria cases. This has changed over time because in the twenty-first century people and the government have realised to live healthy lives it is important to have good sanitation and hygiene because if they do not have good sanitation or hygiene its very likely that diseases and infections will spread around causing many people to get ill. Technology have now improved therefore, the government is able to put more advance technology in place to help in the environment. Environment: Global warming is the rise in the average temperature of Earths atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Since the early 20th century, Earths mean surface temperature has increased by about 0. 8 °C, with about two-thirds of the increase occurring since 1980. Warming of the climate system is clear, and scientists are more than 90% certain that it is primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases made by human activities such as the burning of fissile fuels and deforestation. These findings are recognised by the national science academies of all major industrialised nations. During the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 2. 9 °C for their lowest emissions scenario and 2. 4 to 6. 4  °C for their highest. The ranges of these estimates arise from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations. The effects of an increase in global temperature include a rise in sea levels and a change in the amount and pattern of rain, as well a probable expansion of subtropical desert. Warming is expected to be strongest in Antarctica and would be associated with the continuing sea ice. Other likely effects of the warming include a more frequent occurrence of extreme whether events including heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall due to shifting temperature regimes. Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the loss of habitat from inundation. Proposed policy responses to global warming include mitigation by releases reduction, adaptation to its effects. Most countries have policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to assist in adaptation to global warming. The Earth’s average surface temperature rose by 0. 18 °C, over the period 1906–2005. The rate of warming over the last half of that period was almost double that for the period as a whole 0. 03 °C per decade, versus 0. 02 °C per decade. Temperatures in the lower troposphere have increased between 0. 13 and 0. 22 °C per decade since 1979, according to satellite temperature measurements. Climate substitutions show the temperature to have been relatively stable over the one or two years before 1850. The history of the scientific discovery of climate change began in the early 19th century when ice ages and other natural changes in pale climate were first suspected and the natural greenhouse effect first identified. In the late 19th century, scientists first argued that human emissions of greenhouse gases could change the climate, but the calculations were disputed. Many other theories of climate change were advanced, involving forces from volcanism to solar variation. In the 1960s, the warming effect of carbon dioxide gas became increasingly convincing, although some scientists also pointed out that human activities, in the form of atmospheric aerosols e. g. pollution, could have cooling effects as well. During the 1970s, scientific opinion increasingly favored the warming viewpoint. By the 1990s, as a result of improving fidelity of computer models and observational work confirming the Milankovitch theory of the ice ages, a consensus position formed: greenhouse gases were deeply involved in most climate changes, and human emissions were bringing serious global warming. Some challenges we face now are: 1. Climate Change: this has been concerning scientists for decades, from the melting polar ice caps to catastrophic weather and threatened ecosystems, not only is climate change real, scientists agree that humans are influencing climate change with our production of greenhouse gases (mainly stemming from carbon dioxide and methane). 2. Energy: clean energy vs. dirty energy. Renewable energy, energy independence, petroleum, biofuels and coal. 3. Waste: with the immediate looming problems of climate change and energy, focus has shifted away from landfill waste, but this is a serious problem. The world has largely gotten accustomed to a throwaway lifestyle, but that’s neither healthy nor sustainable. Waterways are choked with trash and modernised nations ship their undesirable leftovers to the developing world. Fashion, fast food, packaging and cheap electronics are just some of the problems 4. Water: Pure water is in short supply. Our global reserves of drinkable water are a fraction of 1% and 1 in 5 humans does not have access to potable (safe) water. Many people do not realise that strife has already broken out in some stressed regions. Overall, I have learnt the difference between the diseases in the nineteenth century and the twenty-first century, in the twenty-first century there is more cures for diseases then there was in nineteenth century. More people know the reasons behind certain diseases and why they be caused and we are now able to produce cures for most diseases and we are now able to help most people around different places.