As if the earthquake and tsunami weren't enough to handle, another national crisis has struck the peaceful country of Japan. A popular story on the news, the nuclear power plant crisis is continuing to have devastating impacts on the Japanese community. Although most of the damaged reactors have been swiftly repared, scientists are now reporting contamination within the local food supply. Large amounts of radioactive substances were recently detected in local produce and livestock, causing the country to bar all shipments of dairy products and vegetables, many of which were being used to provide aid to the disaster areas.
With this nuclear power plant disaster comes alot of public criticism. Now, many Americans are questioning the safety of nuclear energy. Public officials are constantly assuring the people that nuclear energy is safe and efficient. The US Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission states that after September 11, nuclear plants were ordered to perfect their equipment, and mandatory inspections were held often. This is an example of preventative public health at work. Japan illustrates what could have happened had our government loosely regulated such potentially dangerous sources of energy. As for Japan, it is crucial that the Japanese government take necessary steps to ensure that such a disaster never occurs again.
link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/us/21nuke.html?ref=health
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/world/asia/21japan.html?ref=health
What I think this article does a really good job of is illustrating the connectivity of so many public health issues. This is true both within a single community in the different issues affecting that community and for multiple areas across the globe.
ReplyDeleteThe nuclear power plant crisis alone would have been enough of a worry for the people there, but it is now providing food supply danger as well. This reminds me of the chapter that we read last week about nutrition and how when people suffer from malnutrition, it compounds so many other health issues that they are facing. With this new problem of food being contaminated, not only could people be at risk if they eat the contaminated food, but the limitations on food production could cause other health problems to become more prevalent.
This also emphasizes how universal issues of public health can be, with problems affecting huge areas and causing even areas unaffected to take a closer look at policies.
In addition to everything that Laura stated, I think this article also sheds a lot of light on one specific trend in public health. Many times, it takes a national disaster for the community to begin responding to a potentially threatening public-health hazard. Events such as the 1993 Cryptosporidium outbreaks in Milwaukee, and the September 11th attack on our nation, are just two of hundreds of thousands of events that once carried out, brought much needed attention to the workings of public health. It is so important that people recognize the positive impact that preventative measures by public health professionals has on our community's health, before disaster strikes. In the case of Japan, their regulation of nuclear power plants was not as well maintained as it should have been, thus the consequences of its state after the tsunami were much worse than they might have been. In regards to cost and efficiency, the extra spending on preventative measures will provide long-term benefits that could save many lives in future dire situations.
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