Introduction
Every community takes action to study health priorities, identity goals, and develop strategies aimed at maintenance of the community health. Together with typical chronic diseases, certain communicable illnesses have an impact on the community and demand a set of actions aimed at the control of surveillance rates and the development of strategies for prevention. This paper analyses the issue of communicable diseases in Miami, Florida, 33125, and provides an action plan aimed at the improvement of community health conditions.
Epidemiology and Surveillance of Population-Based Communicable Diseases
In 2012, the Health Council of South Florida in cooperation with the Florida Department of Health in Miami‐Dade County accepted and developed a tool known as Mobilizing for Action through Partnerships and Planning (MAPP) for the years 2013‐2018. This initiative involves the primary community health stakeholders and provides a strategic action plan. MAPP provided an assessment of the community health priorities for the following five years. The top-ten priorities contained infectious diseases including HIV and STDs (Health Council of South Florida, 2013).
As of 2011, the rates of some infectious diseases in Miami-Dade County were higher than in Florida in general. Thus, there were 50.3 HIV cases per 100,000 compared to 29.6 in Florida, and 28.5 and 17.4 per 100,000 correspondently. The rates of such sexually transmitted diseases as chlamydia and gonorrhea were almost the same as in the state, 350.0 and 93.4 per 100,000 correspondently. There were also 13.1 per 100,000 cases of syphilis which is almost twice more than in Florida. Finally, tuberculosis was not widely spread with only 6.2 cases per 100,000 (Health Council of South Florida, 2013). As of May 2017, there were 454 registered cases of HIV and 965 cases of gonorrhea while only 24 patients were diagnosed with tuberculosis from the beginning of the year (“Epi monthly report,” 2017). Among the immunization preventable diseases, the most wide-spread were hepatitis A (31 cases), varicella (16 cases), and pertussis (11 cases). The lower rates of preventable diseases compared to STDs can be explained by the successful immunization strategies in the state in general and Miami-Dade County in particular.
The Influence of Communicable Diseases on the Community and Prevention Action Plan
High incidence rates of communicable diseases negatively influence the community. HIV, STDs such as gonorrhea, and tuberculosis are among those diseases that have the highest rates and thus the most influence on the community life. They can have both economic and social impacts. For example, an increase in the number of HIV cases can reduce the attractiveness of the area for tourists and thus influence the economy. Also, high rates of communicable diseases demand more expenses from insurance companies and healthcare providers that are not favorable for the economy as well. Finally, the increasing number of infected people causes losses in the quality and quantity of the workforce, which is also a negative economic factor. Social consequences include the risk of epidemics and, as a result, panic reactions among the citizens. Moreover, HIV causes some disparities and health inequalities that negatively influence the social life of the community.
However, most of the communicable diseases can be prevented or avoided. The initiative Healthy People 2020 includes some objectives aimed at the management of communicable diseases and the improvement of community health (“2020 topics and objectives – objectives A-Z,” 2017). Moreover, the community has Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Immunization Services that are created “to protect and promote the health of Miami-Dade County residents and visitors” (“Disease control,” n.d., para. 1). It can be achieved through the functioning of “public health surveillance, field investigations, health assessments, emergency preparedness activities, and epidemiologic studies” (“Disease control,” n.d., para. 1). These services empower the management of diseases that are significant for public health. Moreover, they can collect and interpret the information on public health and thus facilitate public health care service of the community.
The community needs a plan of action that will help to control and restrain the development of communicable diseases. As for HIV, it is necessary to continue the health education programs aimed at HIV risk reduction. It can be executed through informative prevention strategies and free tests outside clinics. The same strategy can be applied to STDs such as gonorrhea. Moreover, the gonorrhea screening program can be efficient as a part of the general plan. More attention should be focused on the preventive interventions which are likely to reduce HIV and STDs transmission. Particular attention should be given to those population categories that are at higher risk of being infected. Tuberculosis interventions should also focus on the high-risk populations, such as homeless (Health Council of South Florida, 2013). Moreover, it is necessary to improve the reporting strategies because timely detection and treatment will prevent the spread of the disease.
Conclusions
On the whole, communicable diseases are a burden of many communities. Without proper interventions and prevention strategies, they are likely to cause an epidemic and thus provide a more negative impact on the life of the community. It is important to focus on the high-risk population groups and apply efficient preventive actions to preserve the health of the community.
References
Disease control. (n.d.).
Epi monthly report (2017).
Health Council of South Florida. (2013). 2013-2018 community health priorities, goals & strategies.
2020 topics and objectives – objectives A-Z. (2017). Web.