VOLUNTARY DISEASE MANAGEMENT
VOLUNTARY DISEASE MANAGEMENT
There are different disease surveillance systems that can be utilized in the management of disease outbreaks. Surveillance may rely on voluntary sharing of information. Such surveillance comes with advantages and disadvantages. First, sharing of information is effective in containing more localized disease outbreaks (“Fundamental concepts of Public Health Surveillance and Foodborne Disease, n.d). For example, in the event an outbreak is due to feeding on certain food sold in particular regions, the voluntary sharing of information would be more effective and efficient to warn those in the affected regions and hence stop the spread. Secondly, voluntary sharing of information offers one of best platform for monitoring the trend of the disease occurrence. In this case, the individual sharing the information from different regions helps one to monitor spatial spread of the disease easily. In addition, it is cheap since the disease control does not need to coerce people to give information or undertakes a campaign to bring them together for massive testing. Such occurs when the public is well informed, the people can volunteer to give information and help in identification of those affected.
On the contrary, there are disadvantages associated with relying on voluntary information from the public. First, the people may share misleading information among themselves that may increase the spread of diseases. For example, in the recent case of Ebola outbreak in West Africa, some people do not belief that the disease is real. They attacked an Ebola clinic where Ebola patients were quarantined and freed them (John Moore, 2014). In addition, relying on voluntary sharing of information may not be effective in areas with no the right infrastructure such as TV connections, internet, or the communities live in sparse settlements. In such case, the diffusion of the information is difficult. Voluntary information has no standardization.
References
John Moore (2014). “Armed men attack Liberia Ebola clinic, freeing patients.” Retrieved on November 2, 2014 from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-armed-men-attack- liberia-ebola-clinic-freeing-patients/
“Fundamental Concepts of Public Health Surveillance and Foodborne Disease” (n.d) Chapter 2. Retrieved on November 2, 2014 from http://www.cifor.us/documents/CIFORGuidelinesChapter2.pdf
