Paper Example on Tuberculosis in Canada

Tuberculosis is a chronic disease caused by bacterium Mycobacterium. The disease is mainly spread through the air from person to person. The germs related to this disease are released to the air when a person with the disease coughs, sneezes, sings or speaks. People near the infected person may, therefore, breathe in the germs and get infected. Tuberculosis is, therefore, a communicable disease. This disease is present in Canada and has been recorded in the history of Canada as one of the most vital disease epidemics. The purpose of this paper is to educate and enlighten the community about tuberculosis.

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Tuberculosis and colonization

Richards, et al. (2011), suggest that before colonization, the people of Canada enjoyed good health, mostly due to the healthy lifestyle practiced by the people and the diets of the people. These diets included healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and proteins. The traditional setup had customary laws regarding food and hygiene that enabled the people to keep healthy. There were midwives, healers, and shamans (Richards, et al. 2011). The area also enjoyed a small population and good access to land and water. The natives also had immediate knowledge of their local environment that facilitated their hunting, fishing and gathering lifestyle. The environment was also clean and non-polluted. All these factors ensured that although the people suffered some illness, chronic diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis were alien to them, especially tuberculosis.

Jasen, (1997), says that when the native communities came into contact with the Europeans, the health systems were destabilized. This is the period that is identified with the most dangerous health epidemics and the crush of the traditional health systems. Chronic diseases such as tuberculosis were born in this period (Jasen, 1997). The traditional health system was unprepared for the new diseases that came with the colonization period, and people died in big numbers.

With so many people dying, regular food harvest was impossible. This made matters worse. The food was largely unavailable. This reduced the immune systems of the people, due to limited access to nutrients, making them more prone to diseases. Chronic diseases such as tuberculosis became more dangerous and took more lives. This disease sometimes wiped out an entire village due to its communicability. The European colonial masters did not provide the required medical attention to save the population.

Trocme, N. (2010), says that these diseases overwhelmed the traditional healers themselves, with some of them being infected and succumbing to these diseases. This completely unbalanced the traditional health systems (Trocme, 2010). The methods of treatment used before could not deal with the tuberculosis epidemic. The disease was further facilitated by other epidemics such as smallpox. Although the vaccine of smallpox had been discovered earlier, the colonial masters did not provide the vaccines to the local people.

According to Conoley et al. (1990), the colonial masters further worsened the situation by trying to eradicate the traditional health practices of the people, which were the only weapon of the people against tuberculosis (Conoley, 1990). They were attempting to install their health systems. School systems were established, which were meant to remove the children from the communities. This step too worsened the situation. It made the children confined in one place, increasing the communicability of tuberculosis.

High levels of tuberculosis characterized the school systems. Apart from the problem of overpopulation in the schools, there was also the problem of poor quality foods and poor health facilities. Some cases of children being involved in medical lab experiments also increased the spread the disease. The infected children were kept in schools, facilitating further spread of the disease. The children were sent home during their final days, to spend time with their families, this too facilitated the spread of the disease in the villages.

Coleman, et al. (2011) argues that Tuberculosis was no doubt introduced in Canada during the colonial period and this was the time it is believed to have killed the highest numbers of people in its history. Although not as rampant as it was in the colonial days, the disease is still a challenge to the Canadian health sector and needs to be completely wiped out, to save lives (Coleman, et al. 2011).

Addressing Tuberculosis

To address the issue of tuberculosis, everybody has to get involved, starting from the health practitioners, the government, the general public, and others. It implies that a holistic approach would entail comprehensive stakeholder involvement. Of great importance is the general public. This is because these are the primary victims of the disease. For us to educate the general public, the education department must be involved. This includes altering the education systems by putting in place educational programs to help in the eradication of the disease.

One good way would be introducing topics in the science subjects that teach an overview of the disease. The overview includes teaching about the causes of the disease, its treatment and everything else concerning it. The students should be taught that the disease is curable, especially if identified at a young level. The signs and symptoms of the disease should clearly be defined in the syllabus, so that it may be easier to detect the disease at a young age and heal it. Although not in details, part of the treatment of the disease should be addressed. This is to create awareness about the disease; the first step in fighting a problem is accepting it. Creating awareness about the disease would make the people aware and accept the fact that the disease is alive and taking away lives.

Teaching hygiene in schools is also a significant step towards fighting the disease. This should mostly be done to young children who have just joined the school. This would enable them to grow up into adults who practice good hygienic habits. Tuberculosis is a communicable disease, and it is spread by habits such as coughing and sneezing without covering the mouth and nose. Spitting in public should also be discouraged.

The school system should also come up with ways to teach the students and pupils to avoid stigmatization against those affected by the disease. Accepting them and encouraging them that the disease can be cured is a good step in the fight against tuberculosis. Patients should not be discriminated because it is a disease and can be cured.

Training the medical staff also falls under education. Waldram, et al. (2006,) suggests that Caution should be taken when training medical practitioners on matters regarding the disease (Waldram, et al. 2006). The government of Canada should pull in more resources in training the doctors on how to handle the disease. Credible research should be done to assess the state of the disease. As part of the training, doctors should be taken to benchmark in countries which have been more successful in dealing with the disease. A good example is the U.S.A. this is to increase the doctor's knowledge and know-how in dealing with the patients affected by this disease. This way, the disease would be easier to treat, bearing in mind that the people have been taught a little about it in the education system.

Conclusion

It is evident that tuberculosis became rampant in Canada during the colonial era. Ever since, many people have succumbed to the illness. However, there are many ways to curb the disease. The best way is to educate the general public. These issues have been addressed in the paper.

References

Coleman, M. P., Forman, D., Bryant, H., Butler, J., Rachet, B., Maringe, C.,. & McGahan, C. E. (2011). Cancer survival in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, 19952007 (the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership): an analysis of population-based cancer registry data. The Lancet, 377(9760), 127-138.

Conoley, J. C., & Gutkin, T. B. (1986). Educating school psychologists for the real world. School Psychology Review.

Jasen, P. (1997). Race, culture, and the colonization of childbirth in northern Canada. Social History of Medicine, 10(3), 383-400.

Richards, H. V., Brown, A. F., & Forde, T. B. (2007). Addressing diversity in schools: Culturally responsive pedagogy. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(3), 64-68.

Trocme, N. (2010). Canadian incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect, 2008: Major findings. Public Health Agency of Canada.

Waldram, J. B., Herring, A., & Young, T. K. (2006). Aboriginal health in Canada: Historical, cultural, and epidemiological perspectives. University of Toronto Press.