[ABSTRACT LECTURES FROM D.S TURAY FOUNDER OF (CEPAD)
DELIVERED AT HOUGHTON COLLEGE, NEW YORK U.S.A ON
November 6, 2014 NOVEMBER 6TH, 2014 WEBLINK @ WWW.HOUGHTON.EDU]
LECTURE ON PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES IN SIERRA LEONE
TO PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENTS IN HOUGHTON
COLLEGE
THURSDAY 11/6/2014
DEFINITION OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Public health refers to all organized measures (whether public or private) to
prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole.
Its activities aim to provide conditions in which people can be healthy and focus on
entire populations, not on individual patients or diseases. Thus, public health is
concerned with the total system and not only the eradication of a particular disease.
The three main public health functions are:
• The assessment and monitoring of the health of communities and
populations at risk to identify health problems and priorities.
• The formulation of public policies designed to solve identified local and
national health problems and priorities.
• To assure that all populations have access to appropriate and cost-effective
care, including health promotion and disease prevention services.
Overall, public health is concerned with protecting the health of entire
populations. These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood, or as big
as an entire country or region of the world
Public health professionals monitor and diagnose the health concerns of entire
communities and promote healthy practices and behaviours to ensure that
populations stay healthy. One way to illustrate the breadth of public health is to
look at some notable public health programs:
• Nutrition Education
• Safer workplaces
• Food hygiene
• Water and Sanitation (WaSH)
• Maternal and Child Health
• Expanded Programme on Immunization
[ABSTRACT LECTURES FROM D.S TURAY FOUNDER OF (CEPAD)
DELIVERED AT HOUGHTON COLLEGE, NEW YORK U.S.A ON
November 6, 2014 NOVEMBER 6TH, 2014 WEBLINK @ WWW.HOUGHTON.EDU]
• Control of Infectious Diseases
•
Family planning
• School Health Services
DIFFERENT MODELS IN HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SERVICES
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
Traditional medicine is a term used for all different types of unscientific
knowledge systems used within various societies ever since the dawning of
mankind. It is also sometimes referred to as folk medicine, mainly due to the fact
that it was gradually developed over generations. The most common practices of
traditional medicine include traditional African medicine, acupuncture, traditional
Korean medicine and traditional Chinese. There are still certain regions of the
world, especially in Africa that practice Traditional Medicine.
Most traditional healers and traditional medicine are spread by means of word of
mouth throughout communities, families and among individuals up to the point
where they get collected. A culture may contain certain elements of folk medicine
which are simply diffused among individuals, so it requires some time until all the
knowledge elements are gathered together and applied in specific medical
situations. The role of each traditional medicine practitioner is defined by three
distinct factors. Those factors include the beliefs of the surrounding community,
the success of the practitioner’s actions and his or her own beliefs. Not all
elements of a specific culture are successfully integrated into a system, and quite
often it may contain many contradictions
MEDICAL MODEL
This is the traditional approach to the diagnosis and treatment of illness as
practiced by physicians in the Western world since the time of Koch and Pasteur.
The physician focuses on the defect, or dysfunction, within the patient, using a
problem-solving approach. The medical history, physical examination, and
diagnostic tests provide the basis for the identification and treatment of a specific
[ABSTRACT LECTURES FROM D.S TURAY FOUNDER OF (CEPAD)
DELIVERED AT HOUGHTON COLLEGE, NEW YORK U.S.A ON
November 6, 2014 NOVEMBER 6TH, 2014 WEBLINK @ WWW.HOUGHTON.EDU]
illness. The medical model is thus focused on the physical and biologic aspects of
specific diseases and conditions.
Modern medicine usually tends to ignore these aspects of a person and that is why
most traditional medicine practitioners believe that the art of healing has been lost
over the course of the last 100 years. This sort of dissatisfaction led to a significant
increase in the number of people who start relying on traditional medicine in order
to get rid of their medical problems. All of this occurs in spite of the fact that there
is no scientific evidence that traditional methods of treatment may provide one
with a satisfying outcome.
THE SOCIAL MODEL
In recent years, the disability movement has advocated a different way of looking
at disability, which they call the ‘social model’. This starts from the standpoint of
all disabled adults’ and children’s right to belong to and be valued in their local
community. Using this model, you start by looking at the strengths of the person
with the impairment and at the physical and social barriers that obstruct them,
whether at school, college, home or work.
PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES IN SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone’s health system has a lot of problems—it’s underfunded,
understaffed, and underequipped. It’s now facing what could be the largest crisis in
its history as the Ebola outbreak rages out of control. But the health care system
also poses a challenge because of the way it is set up. People continue to call on
the local traditional healers when their community has a relatively sophisticated
government-run health clinic?
Sierra Leone was one of the world’s poorest countries when the civil war began in
1991. In spite of its remarkable strides and reforms since the war ended in 2002,
problems of poor infrastructure -- including roads and energy -- low capacity,
youth unemployment, high maternal and infant mortality, widespread rural
impoverishment, impact of the global economic downturns, and lapses in public
financial management and governance still persist. There is also the daunting
[ABSTRACT LECTURES FROM D.S TURAY FOUNDER OF (CEPAD)
DELIVERED AT HOUGHTON COLLEGE, NEW YORK U.S.A ON
November 6, 2014 NOVEMBER 6TH, 2014 WEBLINK @ WWW.HOUGHTON.EDU]
challenge of enhancing transparency in managing the country’s vast natural
resources.
Sierra Leone has been praised for implementing a Free Health Care policy for
mothers and young children and was launched in April 27 th, 2014, but faces a lot
challenges.
• Only around 85 doctors, 20 state hospitals (51 if you include non-state,
mostly faith-based hospitals) and 1,200 health clinics, covering a population
of up to 5.5 million, it's a significant challenge to deliver free healthcare.
• Poor conditions of service for health workers
• High level of illiteracy
• Poor road network especially in the rural areas
• High level of poverty
• Lack of transparency in managing the Country’s vast natural resources
• Mass unemployment
• Bad Governance
• Understaffed and underequipped health facilities
•
Corruption.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
PREPARED AND PRESENTED BY:
Daniel Sara Turay
[ABSTRACT LECTURES FROM D.S TURAY FOUNDER OF (CEPAD)
DELIVERED AT HOUGHTON COLLEGE, NEW YORK U.S.A ON
November 6, 2014 NOVEMBER 6TH, 2014 WEBLINK @ WWW.HOUGHTON.EDU]
November 6, 2014