PANDEMIC OUTBREAK: SOMALIABy: LaTweika A.T. Salmon

PANDEMIC OUTBREAK• Halloway et al (2014) acknowledges the need for complex strategic plans

with a systematic, urgent approach to appropriately address emerging infectious agents through the community filters encountered in todays society based on population variables as environmental, cultural and socio-economic differences.

• The World Health Organization (2015) accounts for approximately 10,496,000 citizens in Somalia, in which, the country’s profile displays a lack of suitable health education, promotion, and data collection suitable for country health expenditure, health status, and accurate record keeping through surveillance.

HOW PREPARED IS SOMALIA FOR AN OUTBREAK?

• The question remains, based on the current status of health care in Somalia at what level would the country be best prepared for an outbreak?

• The current life expectancy of 57 years of age provides insight into the low level of local access to health care and relatively high incidence and prevalence of disease from malaria, malnourishment, and communicable diseases.

HOW PREPARED IS SOMALIA FOR AN OUTBREAK?

• The widespread effect of malnourishment plays a considerable role in community response and immune effectiveness in these high risk populations as a result of their weakened immune systems.• Malnourishment contains a strong correlation between the human

immune systems proper ability to fight off infection, whereas, malnutrition is defined as “the cellular imbalance between supply of nutrients and energy and the body’s demand for them to ensure growth, maintenance, and specific functions (Duggal et al, 2012)

CURRENT STATUS: MALNUTRITION

• Somalia’s current state of malnutrition signifies a posed threat a large community of high risk individuals being typical or more susceptible to illness and contributing to an overall outbreak and pandemic.

• Without the bodies proper maintenance and ability to fight off emerging infections, the community provides ad opportunistic environment to host such infections as Ebola, Ghardia, Malaria, HIV, and influenza.

ACCESS TO TREATMENT• Secondary factors to consider are the ever decreasing effects of access to

treatment under direction and milleniall development to provide more access to Somalia communities, additionally, the continued need for more health promotion and health education on signs, symptoms and the implications for more awareness in the community concerning the dangers of infectious agents.

HOW PREPARED IS SOMALIA FOR AN OUTBREAK?

• The communities lack of viable knowledge on the effects of TB, HIV, and malaria continue to contribute to an increase in infections and a lack of accessible health care correlates with consistent morbidity and mortality.

• Evaluation of efficiency efforts for Somalia on preparedness of an outbreak are fairly below average. Environmental factors indicate a lack of knowledge through out community on infectious agents that would facilitate the spread and transmission of a disease with little education on the signs and symptoms, need for diagnosis, treatment, and differentiated communication efforts for an underdeveloped country.

EBOLA PANDEMIC

EBOLA PANDEMIC• An Ebola pandemic would pose a considerable threat as the number of

readily available health care professionals would significantly need to increase in order to properly educate communities on foot village to village in rural areas and through large clinics in the cities to warrant sufficient knowledge on the proper safety measures to take, i.e. refraining from touching the sick, personal protective equipment, isolation, and quick identification of illness and the number of infected both diagnosed at medical stations and within villages.

HOW PREPARED IS SOMALIA FOR AN OUTBREAK?

• The World Health Organization established a preparedness pandemic plan in 1999 describing the necessity to provide information on reducing the risk for infection and informing government and health care organizations of proper outbreak response.3 The virulence and high mortality associated with Ebola virus disease (EVD) necessitate a similarly detailed preparedness plan, including international collaboration and commitment to providing research, training, support, and personnel to combat the current outbreak and prevent future outbreaks (Silver et al, 2015).

EBOLA PANDEMIC• A rapid rate of response is necessary in Somalia to prevent an Ebola

pandemic based on the community characteristics and under developed features of the population with little access to technology, cultural and traditional practices of burial, witch doctors, medical treatment, and the countries wealth. Those with immediate access to health care often times have little financial means for proper treatment and/or little education on health illness (Kateh et al, 2015).

HOW PREPARED IS SOMALIA FOR AN OUTBREAK?

• Somalia is not prepared to initiate large scale pandemic protective measures, begin proper isolation measures within the community with special attention to developed communication plans that are essential to have pre established, Identify infectious agents within a timely manner and lastly, effectively inform all those at risk.

• Proper uniform measure need to be adapted within the population and all health educators and professionals need to be prepped on logistical measures, safety precautions and essential levels of plan in terms of the working environment.

REFERENCES• Holloway, R., Rasmussen, S. A., Zaza, S., Cox, N. J., & Jernigan, D. B. (2014). Updated

Preparedness and Response Framework for Influenza Pandemics. MMWR Recommendations & Reports, 63(6), 1-18 18p.

• Somalia. 2015. World Health Organization. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from http://www.who.int/countries/som/en/

• Duggal, S., Chugh, T. D., & Duggal, A. K. (2012). HIV and malnutrition: effects on immune system. Clinical & Developmental Immunology, 2012784740. doi:10.1155/2012/784740

• Silver, C. B., Leon, E. L., Zaino, S. A., & Mandel, E. D. (2015). Ebola: Lessons from the Latest Pandemic. Clinician Reviews, 25(9), 34-40.

• Kateh, F., Nagbe, T., Kieta, A., Barskey, A., Gasasira, A. N., Driscoll, A., & ... Kirking, H. (2015). Rapid response to ebola outbreaks in remote areas - liberia, july-november 2014. MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 64(7), 188-192 5p.