I recently read an article that was an encouragement among many of the depressing stories we read about in the news. This article was a success story having to do with Zambia. According to recent data, Zambia has been able to decrease the incidence of malaria by 66%. This decrease accomplished many of the goals previously set for the country to achieve by 2010. According to this article, the success was largely due to the resource allocation to malaria control programs and the Government’s commitment to fighting the disease.
I think that this article is a great example of what can be accomplished when resources are placed in effective areas and the government is on board for the fight against the disease. I know it is a rare occasion for things to come together this well and have this much success, or at least we do not hear about it too often. I thought it was nice to be able to see what can be accomplished when the pieces fall together properly.
The major interventions used were the distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets and the indoor Residual Spraying. Fortunately, cultural barriers did not inhibit the use of these items as it may in many other countries. Also, there were enough financial resources to make sure these treatments extended to almost all of the population. Again, these blessings assisted the success of the malaria treatment and prevention. However, we must not undermine the contribution of the well-organized team that headed these interventions.
Zambia still has some kinks to work out, such as the potential threat of resistance development because of the continued use of insecticides. However, this story is an inspiration to all interventions worldwide. Change and success are possible, and many lives can be saved.
It is so great to see parts of the world achieve development goals and really help their people increase their health statuses. The thing I find most fascinating about this article is that Zambia isn't the only country facing this issue in Africa. There are dozens of countries facing this same issue, receiving much of the same aid, and yet still not achieving this level of success. I think it shows how incredibly important government support is for programs such as this to be successful. I wonder what things the government in Zambia did to ensure support and implement the program so well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that government support in coordination with community efforts can have quite the influential impact on the success of public health programs. In a nation whose government is stable, actions such as governance, policy setting, and enforcement of rules can successfully guide the process of raising funds, allocating them, and establishing approaches to improve health problem. In the eyes of NGO’s who are looking to distribute funds, countries with stable governments are historically more able to follow through with programs, and thus are highly favorable for distributing funds to. In some cases, international help is the only hope for a country in need of funding, which is why government support is so crucial. I really enjoyed this article because many time in public health, we don't get to hear about the good things that are happening. We usually only hear about what is going wrong. All in all this article was very refreshing to see that public health measure are improving community health around the world.
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