Essay Example on Policy Measures to Protect Working-Class Group from Tuberculosis

Introduction

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the vulnerable diseases across the world. In the US, more than 65% of tuberculosis cases are experienced by individuals aged 25 to 65 years (Katz, 2017). In this case, the policy should target the working-class group, which is the most vulnerable category (Angarita-Fonseca, 2017). Geographically, people living in developing regions are highly susceptible to TB due to poor living standards. Most of the working groups live in developing regions, and therefore, they are highly exposed to the bacteria (Pollack Porter 2018). Additionally, the policy should target Hispanics, Black Americans, and Asians as they are highly vulnerable to the disease (Frérot et al., 2018). According to Crammond and Carey, 2017, 87% of cases reported in 2017 were in racial and ethnic minorities. Furthermore, there are many cases of bacteria among those people experiencing life challenges, such as housing insecurity (Katz, 2017). Therefore, the policy should target individuals experiencing such issues.

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Health Determinants

Health is an integral aspect that is highly impacted by many determinant aspects. The establishment of tuberculosis policy may be influenced by health determinants such as behavior, economic, and physical influence (Hassoun et al., 2017). Normally, the spread of TB relies on the kind of behaviors individuals deploy. In this case, the behaviors individuals follow in their daily life determine their susceptibility toward the bacterial (Crammond & Carey, 2017). Economically, the chances of acquiring tuberculosis are influenced by the condition where people live. According to the World Health Organization, poverty is a powerful determinant of the bacteria (Hassoun et al., 2017). In this case, living in a crowded and poorly ventilated region increases the risk of contracting the bacteria (Crammond & Carey, 2017). Additionally, poverty is associated with a lack of health knowledge on how to prevent TB. Due to a lack of knowledge, the low class is highly exposed to tuberculosis risk (Hassoun et al., 2017). Physically, the working and playing environment increases the chances of contracting the virus (Hassoun et al., 2017). Additionally, age is another physical aspect that influences the spread of bacteria (Katz, 2017). For instance, adults are highly susceptible to disease as compared to young children. As such, physical determinant influences the connection between people. When people live so closely, they are highly exposed to tuberculosis risks.

Importance of the Policy to the Target Population

Tuberculosis was first discovered in 1882 by Dr. Robert Koch (Angarita-Fonseca, 2017). At this period, the bacterial killed one in every seven individuals. Since then, the disease has been a major threat across America and Europe. By 2015, about 10,000 cases of tuberculosis were reported, which was a rate of 2.7 per 100,000 persons (Angarita-Fonseca, 2017). In 2018, the government of America reported about 13million people were living with the latent TB infection (Frérot et al., 2018). Due to the higher number, the disease has become a critical health-related state. As such, the government has been striving to establish policies that aim at assisting people in countering aspect that increases TB risks (Eshofonie et al., 2015). For instance, the establishment of education programs has highly assisted the country in understanding ways to prevent the virus.

Tuberculosis Distribution

In 2018, the national incidence rate of TB was 2.8 cases per 100,000 individuals, which was the lowest number since 1953 (Frérot et al., 2018). The rate was a decrease of 0.7 % from 2017 (Hassoun et al., 2017). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of TB in 2018 was 9,025 cases (Frérot et al., 2018). The disease infection is highly experienced among individuals suffering from other chronic issues such as diabetes. For instance, in 2018, 19.8 % of the cases were associated with people suffering from diabetes, while 5.1 % was linked with individuals suffering from HIV/AIDs (Frérot et al., 2018). In 2018, about half of the cases were reported in four states. In which, California reported 23.3 %, Texas 12.5%, New York 8.3%, and Florida 6.5% (Frérot et al., 2018). The four states are highly occupied by Asians, Hispanics, and Black Americans.

The Need for the Policy

The high rate of infection among the resident has been a key aspect that triggered the establishment of the policy. The spread has been associated with a lack of information on how to combat the issue (Crammond & Carey, 2017). Therefore, establishing the policy will help the region to learn how to control, thus reducing TB cases (Bonita, 2006). Additionally, the data on the group that is highly susceptible to the disease, clearly illustrate the need for focusing on people within the working class (Eshofonie et al., 2015). Through the program, the government could effectively manage to minimize the spread of the disease.

Health Determinants and Disparity

The control of the disease within the country is determined by how the government controls health determinants and disparity. People living in regions that are highly associated with health disparities are highly susceptible to tuberculosis bacteria (Crammond & Carey, 2017). Therefore, health determinants and disparity are perceived as a major issue affecting the spread of tuberculosis. The establishment of policy would help in the elimination of issues such as disparity, which is a critical aspect in the control of TB (Bonita, 2006). Additionally, health determinants such as poverty have been a major issue causing the rise of tuberculosis cases in the United States (Eshofonie et al., 2015). Hence, the establishment of the policy would be a key aspect, which would help in the control of health determinants and disparities in the country.

How the Policy Address the Issue

Due to disparity, the population does not have access to quality health education. As such, most people live in poor and congested areas, thus exposing them to diseases (Crammond & Carey, 2017). Poor living standards are perceived as a major issue hindering the United States from attaining quality health care (Eshofonie et al., 2015). Through education, the policy will encourage the population to focus on aspects such as poverty, which hinders people from attaining quality care.

Additionally, the policy addresses the distribution of the issue by creating a good ground were all employed and voluntary individuals were encouraged to test for TB (Bonita 2006). Through the testing, the policy effectively promotes the control of TB as it gives all people an opportunity to detect an issue at an early stage (Eshofonie et al., 2015). Additionally, the testing makes it is easier for health agents to minimize the spread of the disease, thus improving the quality of life among the population.

Strategies on Improving Health Prevention

As a way of preventing the community against diseases, the government may establish laws that encourage all people to the vaccine on all infection issues. Through immunization, communication can effectively manage to overcome disease risks, thus improving the living condition (Bonita, 2006). Additionally, health surveillance may assist the government in understanding the common issues that the community is facing. As such, surveillance assists in estimating the health status, which determines the kind of behaviors community is supposed to deploy.

References

Angarita-Fonseca, A. (2017). How have epidemiologist used the term community? Revista Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud UDES, 4(1), 6-7. https://journalhealthsciences.com/index.php/UDES/article/download/146/156

Bonita, R., Beaglehole, R., & Kjellström, T. (2006). Basic epidemiology. World Health Organization.

Crammond, B. R., & Carey, G. (2017). Policy change for the social determinants of health: the strange irrelevance of social epidemiology. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice, 13(2), 365-374. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/41628163/Policy_change_for_the_social_determinant.pdf?1453895114=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DPolicy_change_for_the_social_determinant.pdf&Expires=1594560005&Signature=Nl-hEKqavnljhxf1fWGtzidQwefBZ-fsWiOb1qYAA5F-QtQMrrAtcZZu6vaRCa1mePOpu1Sz7Ro9bdyhDqTsPeLwphJmHboOext-Eirlgnt0dohaZWKpezksepdf4VDOOJq~SfQ59L8gnYvQVmomdaAC-lJViSYMkd1a~bm3YdLK1jqO3~~zZfhSRlenOv0OXP-9kxxpgMNSAUa2Yi3K~9VpzFSMqAJJh797JQ6ejbHjD8-smg31tASSR4UbV1jdfCyEx1D6yj3beCyVk6Z7deNCcV~QGdh6PKDL-NJk1vkxDvy9e72nASRz9mQI1YphB-tw4qKuwzkeX6s4UkW3Yw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Eshofonie, A. O., Lin, H., Valcin, R. P., Martin, L. R., & Grunenwald, P. E. (2015). An outbreak of pertussis in rural Texas: An example of the resurgence of the disease in the United States. Journal of Community Health, 40(1), 88-91. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10900-014-9902-2

Frérot, M., Lefebvre, A., Aho, S., Callier, P., Astruc, K., & Aho Glélé, L. S. (2018). What is epidemiology? Changing definitions of epidemiology 1978-2017. Plos one, 13(12), e0208442. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0208442

Hassoun, A., Linden, P. K., & Friedman, B. (2017). Incidence, prevalence, and management of MRSA bacteremia across patient populations—a review of recent developments in MRSA management and treatment. Critical care, 21(1), 211. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13054-017-1801-3

Katz, A. (2017). Health literacy: What do you know? Oncology Nursing Forum. https://onf.ons.org/onf/44/5/health-literacy-what-do-you-know

Pollack Porter, K. M., Rutkow, L., & McGinty, E. E. (2018). The importance of policy change for addressing public health problems. Public Health Reports, 133(1_suppl), 9S-14S. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0033354918788880