The global community faces problems every day. Some problems are related to the economical situation in the world whereas others are aimed at developing methods of treatment of global health problems. In this respect, there are different approaches to the same problems and, in this case, the global community should make an effort to overcome the problems in a unified way using coordinating mutual attempts in the way of reaching a common goal.
However, I decided to choose the disease that was confined to the third world and developing countries, and now the rest of the world including developed countries is affected. This disease is called dengue fever; it became more ‘international’ after the development of tourism, different international programs on assistance and cooperation, and missions aimed at the establishment of economic and political relations between countries. But I think that tourism now remains one of the main reasons for the spread of this disease.
The nursing practice area should be prepared in accordance with the increasing number of cases when people fall ill and do not know the symptoms and possible algorithm of actions in similar situations. In this respect, people that come from exotic countries that are most frequently are those of the third world should bear in mind the possibility of falling ill. A complex approach should be used to overcome difficulties relevant to global health problems and international methods of treating those. As some countries can fail to take preventive measures in the treatment of dengue fever, nurses should not exclude the possibility of their patients being a carrier of various viruses. For instance, dengue fever should be treated correspondingly to its nature and prevented in numerous cases, whenever possible.
Dengue fever can be considered one of the global health problems that should be treated by a complex approach appropriate for the international community members. Besides, not only nurses but doctors, “sanitarians, law enforcement, media, lawyers”, and representatives of other related areas should take part in the treatment and preventive measures, as reported by Benjamin (n.d.). In this respect, nurses can gain experience while collaborating with members of the complex approach team including the acquisition of skills necessary for the treatment of global health problems and anticipation in international programs.
Thus, regarding the current situation in the global health sector, the US government should take measures appropriate for the public health community sector such as “Put more resources into achieving [goals]; focus on activities for achieving them; hold certain people accountable if goals are not met” (Benjamin, n.d.).
Dengue fever is a serious disease “[w]ith more than one-third of the world’s population living in areas at risk for transmission, dengue infection is a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 2010). As you can see, this problem requires resources that are taken in accordance with the situation contrasted to those when people use resources at hand.
Thus, the study by Maurer & Smith (2005) emphasizes the importance of specific preparation for nurses to deal with global health problems adequately (p.3). In other words, all possible algorithms should be taken into account and a special solution must be found for each problem. This means that every person, every member of the team should take a global approach while visualizing the situation and weighing up all pros and cons of various decisions.
As suggested by Benjamin (n.d.), more emphasis should be given to the role of the public in solving global health problems. So, it is necessary to inform the population about different diseases and encourage them to react immediately to the symptoms and take appropriate measures for preventing some diseases. Knowledge can be the most effective as the most destructive weapons while dealing with global health problems. In other words, there is a vague difference between informing people about some diseases and effects produced by certain vaccines and making people panic. In this respect, a nurse is a member of the global community and a professional that solves global health problems adequately.
References
Benjamin, G. (Executive director). (n.d.) Scope of community/public health. The practice of population-based care week 1. Web.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2010). Dengue. Web.
Maurer, F. A., & Smith, C. M. (2005). Community/public health nursing practice: health for families and populations. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Health Sciences.