Lessons from Past Public Health Crises

Lessons from Past Public Health Crises

Infectious diseases have posed a threat to global public health over the centuries. More humans have died from infectious diseases than anything else. A look into the death figures of pandemics in history highlights the devastating impact it continues to have on human lives. For example, some of the deadliest infectious diseases in history like the 6th century plague of Justinian claimed 50 million fatalities. Again, nearly 200 million lives were lost during the 14th century Black Death. While in the 20th century Small pox killed some 300 million people. These diseases are usually caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites. h (BBC Future, 2020). Currently, the world continues to be ravaged by the Covid-19 outbreak with the situation escalating. This paper looks at the lessons public health agencies can learn from past global pandemics.

First, the case of the polio outbreak in the 1950s in USA offers some vital lessons. The disease claimed thousands of lives in the US. It mostly affected children and spread through oral-fecal contacts. Polio spread faster during the summer months and sometimes led to paralysis. During this era, institutes such as the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received inadequate funding. There wasn’t enough support from the Federal Government. However, the disease was eliminated through the coordinated, determined and unified approach of a single charity organization called March of Dimes. Further, millions of people participated in voluntary services to end the outbreak.

The scourge ended despite inadequate federal support. So, two lessons can be drawn from this outbreak. First, dealing with a pandemic such as the Covid-19 requires a sole coordinated effort by public health agencies across a country. A divided approach will likely escalate a crisis. Second, during a public health crisis, hospitals will likely be overwhelmed by a sudden influx of sick patients. It’s crucial for the government to mobilize the public to provide volunteer health workers (The Atlantic, 2020 ). These actions will boost the efforts to contain a pandemic and will help a country ease its crisis.

Crucial lessons can also be learned from the 1918 Spanish flu. The influenza killed over 675,000 Americans while about 50-100 million died globally. The flu virus spread and killed fast. The disease caused pneumonia which was the major cause of many flu deaths. It was particularly lethal among young adults considering that 28 years was the average age of the fatalities. Further, a rise in demand for health professionals by the military led to a significant strain for the American public health system. This pandemic got worse causing overcrowding in hospitals and serious physicians shortage. Besides, the government underestimated the flu and suppressed the truth in the media. This was despite the damage it was already causing. The repercussions were devastating as the infection and fatality rates soared (PBS, 2010). Today, a lot can be learnt from the mistakes that the US government made during this flu era.

One, the government should be truthful to the public. During the current Covid-19 outbreak President Trump has been guilty of underestimating the impact of the pandemic on America. The president painted an optimistic picture of ending the pandemic soon in the US. However, that is contrary to the reality as the US now leads the world in infections with fatalities increasing. Telling the public the truth is essential to prevent panic as the public will be better prepared to handle this virus. The public will strictly follow the public health measures as they fully understand the severity of the situation. Second, similar to Covid-19, the flu also required social distancing to curb its spread. The overcrowding in military camps in 1918 accelerated its spread. Even across the US, regions that enforced the tightest social distance guidelines recorded fewer infection rates. This is a vital lesson today that for the US and other nations to reduce the current infection rate, they must impose tougher social distancing guidelines.

Lastly, adequate preparation is a vital lesson that can be learned from past pandemics. Most of these outbreaks such as the Ebola crisis, Spanish flu, Sars among others caught many countries unawares. Leaders tend to pledge additional funding to the public health system in times of crises. However, once the pandemic is over, they fail to fulfill their pledges. This leaves many nations ill-prepared incase another pandemic suddenly breaks. A similar situation also happened last year where the US government conducted simulations of a highly infectious virus. The simulations were done to prepare the US of a global pandemic. However, the inherent weaknesses in American health system were not addressed early enough (BBC Future, 2020). This is evident by the seemingly slow response of the US to the Covid-19. The country now leads the world in confirmed cases of infection.

Therefore, infectious diseases will continue to pose significant threats to global public health. Specific measures such as increased sanitation, vaccination and antibiotics usage have proven effective in containing their spread. However, as discussed above, these disease have caused the most deaths to humanity. It is vital that public health systems quickly learn from past mistakes. This is essential to ensure a better coordinated and prompt response to future pandemics.