What might have otherwise been individual illness, limited to one or two cases of Ebola, was magnified in a hospital setting in which unsterile equipment and needles were used repeatedly on numerous patients." (Garrett 220).
Even with the significant accomplishment of learning to genetically engineer biologic material, the means did not exist to apply this new knowledge where it was needed most. Economic, social, governmental, and geographic barriers prevented this advancement from having the impact it could have. As a result, the microorganisms continued to outpace the medical scientists.
It is important to understand that, largely, what has determined the direction of the American medical industry during the post war -- for profit -- era has been the market for new drugs and treatments. It has already been established that this market is relatively unconcerned with those who cannot afford service: uninsured Americans and poor foreigners. Therefore, it should be expected that the services that were in the highest demand during the dawn of such potential plagues as Ebola and AIDS were things that were completely unrelated to these treacherous threats. In accordance with this theory, it should be noted that some of the most expensive research and products came out of the search for new methods to treat cancer -- a disease that was and is prevalent among the elderly and insured. Magnetic Resonance Imaging and CAT scans were in development at this time. Although their immense medical value cannot be denied, it still provides an illustration of the priorities set by the American medical system.
Tied in with the idea of demand is the idea of public awareness. News coverage of the beginnings of Ebola and AIDS was relatively unclear as to what the threat was while these diseases were first being discovered. These far-off diseases "boiled down to the same set of troubling perceptions for the American public, and, to a lesser extent, the Canadian, Mexican, Australian, New Zealand, and European publics: something new and very scary was coming; nobody was sure what it was, but the experts were certain that it was dangerous; the federal government seemed quite distressed about the matters, but the experts and authorities didn't seem to agree as to what, if anything, should be done to protect the public; and it was all costing taxpayers a pretty penny." (Garrett 153-154). In the midst of such ambiguous interpretations of impending doom, which seemed to appear in the news weekly, the natural response of a public thousands of miles away is to ignore it. With a lack of general concern from the American public the medical industry had little incentive to invest potentially millions or billions of dollars into stopping another African disease.
By 1982 AIDS, a serious epidemic threat, reached America. In that year the Centers for Disease Control closed their report on the disease by saying, "Of the 788 definite AIDS cases among adults reported thus far to CDC, 42 (5.3%) belong to no known risk group (i.e., they are not known to be homosexually active men, intravenous drug abusers, Haitians, or hemophiliacs).... This report and continuing reports of AIDS among persons with hemophilia a raise serious questions about the possible transmission for AIDS through blood and blood products." (Garrett 309). Suddenly AIDS had become a clear and present danger to the United States and since the modes by which it was transferred were unclear, it provided fuel to the fire of those who looked to blame the homosexual community.
Consequently, the need for the American medical community to act had finally come -- the public was finally sufficiently scared to demand that action be taken. Unfortunately, too much time had been wasted. Attacking the disease from a biomedical standpoint was fairly ineffectual. The best advice that the medical community could give was for individuals to alter their lifestyles appropriately with latex contraceptives and monogamy. Regardless of the gross failure of the American medical practices, still millions of dollars have been invested to develop drugs and treatments that slow the onset of AIDS and prolong the life of infected individuals. So in this sense, the industry has responded; and although they have yet to yield a cure, they have still found a way in the face of existing demands to generate a profit out of their shortcomings.
The already desperate state of the poor in the United States with the new threat of HIV and AIDS threatened to overrun the medical facilities in place to support them. "Any disease that hit the poor urban Americans disproportionately would tax the public hospital system. But AIDS, which was particularly costly and labor intensive to treat, threatened to be...
The issue of grey and black markets often arose as a result of the shortages of experienced health care personnel. The system could not adapt to a flexible environment as it was led by rigid official procedures and the mentality of the people who controlled it was commanding, their vision short-sighted and hardly beneficial in such a situation (Barr and Mark, 1996). The breaking up of Soviet Union which brought
Access and Availability The biggest problem in terms of access to healthcare is in rural areas. Our investigation found that there are very few if any rural clinics or healthcare facilities. Access to healthcare is also limited to those that can afford insurance or qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. The unemployed and the poor are at a major disadvantage when it comes to gaining access to healthcare. The location of healthcare facilities
Healthcare As standard procedure warranted in this case, her obstetrician injected her with varicella zoster specific immunoglobulin. The injection did occur too late, but this is a special case warranting attention and was a prophylactic to protect the baby. A few days later the RN developed chickenpox anyway. The reasons why the vaccine did not take could have been the fact that the RN had already been exposed, and the situation
6% of the respondents stated that this was what they did. This number however is not reflected in lower numbers for life style disease and so it must be given greater scrutiny at another time (See table below). Fruit and vegetable consumption by ethnicity Lifestyle diseases There are a number of diseases and health conditions that have been linked to life style behaviors and belief systems. The prevalence of these diseases demonstate that
Community Health Aides Model Improving International Healthcare "International Health-care system...What to do to improve the U.S.'s health system" Global health organizations have been studying ways to create efficacious care within and across the many national, ethnic, and cultural contexts. Several models have been shown to be particularly effective regardless of context. Using extant secondary research, this report will provide the fundamental framework for a model that is agile, comprehensive, and eminently adoptable. Five contexts
Gene Rogers who served as the medical director for Sacramento County's Indigent Services program for the most of the last decade who has "waged a long fight against the central California country's practice of providing non-emergency medical care to illegal immigrants - a policy he says violates federal law and results in the poorest American citizens being denied the care they deserve." (Cromer, 2007) it is related in Cromer's
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now