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Operationalizing Public Health Skills to Resource Poor Settings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Sim Sai Tin*
Affiliation:
Medical Center, Shantou, China
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Affiliation:
Hainan Medical University, China.
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Professor Sim Sai Tin, Medical Center, Shantou, China (e-mail: simsaitin@gmail.com).
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Abstract

Type
Letters to the Editor
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2014 

We would like to comment on the recent publication “Operationalizing Public Health Skills to Resource Poor Settings.”Reference Burkle1 Burkle noted that “adjusting and adapting specific operational public health skill sets to resource poor environments”Reference Burkle1 is a main point to consider during the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak. In fact, as noted by Burkle, the modification of operationalizing public health skills for each specific setting is an important factor determining the success of the public health manipulation. Nevertheless, for the control of epidemics, including the present 2014 Ebola crisis, consideration of international collaboration is not any less important.Reference Adalja and Henderson2 International collaboration, based on cross-cultural agreement, to screen and control the disease is a vital process in the present-day crisis. In some situations, a local public health agency might have to deal with possible importation from other countries. This can be problematic if there is not adequate knowledge of the virus. For example, it is a potential problem in pilgrimage activities such as the Hajj.Reference Memish and Al-Tawfiq3, Reference Al-Tawfiq and Memish4

References

1.Burkle, FM. Operationalizing public health skills to resource poor settings: is this the Achilles heel in the Ebola epidemic campaign? Disaster Med Public Health Prep [published online October 7, 2014]. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2014.95Google Scholar
2.Adalja, AA, Henderson, DA. Optimization of interventions in Ebola: differential contagion. Biosecur Bioterror. 2014;12(6):299-300. doi:10.1089/bsp.2014.0925Google Scholar
3.Memish, ZA, Al-Tawfiq, JA. The Hajj in the time of an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2014;12(5):415-417.Google Scholar
4.Al-Tawfiq, JA, Memish, ZA. Mass gathering medicine: 2014 Hajj and Umra preparation as a leading example. Int J Infect Dis. 2014;27C:26-31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar