Group three
Theme: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Title: Characterization of health and safety hazards among workers managing
zoonotic diseases in East and Central Africa
1Celsus
Sente, 2Stephen S. Kishinhi, 1Rawlance Ndejjo, 3WubitTafese and
1Andrew Seruma Kizito
1. Uganda, 2. Tanzania, 3. Ethiopia
Introduction
Zoonosesare diseases and infections that are naturally transmitted between
vertebrate animals and humans and vice versa.Endemic zoonotic diseases such
as anthrax, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, cysticercosis, echinococcosis
(hydatid disease), rabies and zoonotic trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
occur throughout the African continent where conditions for their maintenance
and spread exist (WHO, 2007). Recent studies indicate that more than threefourths of communicable human diseases are zoonotic in origin (Woolhouse
and Gowtage- Sequeria 2005), including diseases associated with significant
mortality and morbidity such as avian influenza (H5N1), severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola virus, and Nipah virus. Some of these
zoonotic diseases originate in wildlife and others in domestic livestock species;
many have the potential to affect humans through a livestock–human interface
(Cleaveland et al. 2001) in which domestic livestock can act as “amplifier hosts”
(Keesing et al. 2010) for diseases that they contract from wildlife and then pass
to humans through frequent and close contact.
Workplace exposure to zoonotic pathogens, agents transmitted to humans from
vertebrate animals or their tissues, is an occupational hazard.Occupational
health and safety hazards have been characterized as: physical hazards
(ionizing radiation due to x-rays); chemical hazards-allergens, toxic chemicals
in laboratories (formaline and xylene in histopathology labs), anesthetic gases
(halothane, nitrous oxide), cytotoxic drugs used in treating cancers;
mechanical and ergonomic hazards- low back pain in nurses due to
inappropriate lifting of patients; biological-blood borne infections such as
hepatitis B & C, HIV, hemorrhagic fevers like ebola. Pathologists and postmortem technicians are at risk of TB. Psychological hazards as a result of
stress among workers. The magnitude of these hazards among workers
managing zoonotic diseases remains unknown. There is also growing interest
in promoting cooperation between medical and veterinary sectors, as captured
in the concept of “one health” (Zinsstagetal. 2011). Scientific research is now
focusing on the interActionsbetween humans, domestic animals, and wild
animals to better understand the mechanisms of disease emergence and
transmission, thus informing more effective policies for communicable disease
prevention and control.
Problem statement:
There has been an increase in occupational health and safety related
conditions. These include death, severe injuries, disability, chronic infections,
cross infection,trauma. The prevalence and incidence of zoonotic diseases has
also increased in the recent past. Workers of different backgrounds are
involved in the management of these diseases including both human and
animal health workers. These workers are increasingly exposed to zoonotic
diseases.
When the workers are faced with occupational health and safety conditions,
they would require treatment which is many times costly, working hours are
also lost during the treatment of these conditions, there will be a reduction in
the work force in case of serious effects like disability or death, a reduction in
productivity and an increase in poverty since most workers are usually bread
winners in their households.
The government has invested in vaccines, equipped health facilities, stocked
drugs but these efforts have not solved the problem.
The knowledge of workers on the hazards in their environment is not known.
There is need to further understand the hazards affecting this workforce and
their predisposing factors in order to design effective strategies for the
prevention of these hazards.
Research questions
1. What occupational health and safety hazards affect workers managing
zoonotic diseases?
2. What are the predisposing factors associated with the hazards?
3. What do workers managing zoonotic diseases know about hazards in
their working environment?
4. What control measures are in place to minimize the impact of the
hazards?
Aim and Objectives
General Objective
To characterize health and safety hazards among workers managing zoonotic
diseases in East and Central Africa in order to design effective strategies to
control the hazards.
Specific objectives
1. To identify the occupational health and safety hazards affecting workers
managing zoonotic diseases
2. To determine the predisposing factors associated with the hazards
3. To assess the knowledge of workers managing zoonotic diseases about
hazards in their working environment
4. To identify the control measures in place to minimize the impact of the
hazards
Outcomes
Characterization of hazards will enable their further understanding such that
effective control strategies can be designed. This will ensure a reduction of the
hazards. With such a reduction, there will be improvement in the health status
of workers, reduced expenditure in the treatment of occupational health and
safety conditions and therefore reduced health expenditure, improved
productivity of the workers and better service delivery to the citizens of East
and central African countries.
References
WHO, 2007.Applying the “One Health” Concept Report of a Joint
WHO/EU/ILRI/DBL/FAO/OIE/AU Meeting ILRI Headquarters, Nairobi, 13–15
November 2007
Woolhouse MEJ, GowtageSequeria S. 2005. Host range and emerging and
reemerging pathogens. Emerging Infect Dis 11:1842–1847.
Cleaveland S, Laurenson MK, Taylor LH. 2001. Diseases of humans and their
domestic mammals: pathogen characteristics, host range and the risk of
emergence. PhilosTrans R SocLond B BiolSci 356:991–999
Keesing F, Belden LK, Daszak P, Dobson A, Harvell CD, Holt RD, et al. 2010.
Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious
diseases. Nature 468:647–652.
Zinsstag J, Schelling E. WaltnerToews D, Tanner M. 2011. From ‘one medicine’
to ‘one health’ and systemic approaches to health and wellbeing. Prev Vet Med
101:148–156.