Understanding the Use of Epidemiology

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Epidemiological Reporting and Disease Control Strategies
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Epidemiological Reporting and Disease Control Strategies in Nigeria and the United States
Clinicians and other health workers use epidemiology in determining risk factors associated with the occurrence of an illness. The knowledge about the various risk factors is critical in directing further research investigation and implementing disease control strategies. Notably, epidemiology entails studying the distribution and determinants of various disorders within a group of individuals. In such a case, a country can identify the distribution of various diseases and related control methods. Countries utilize a variety of disease control strategies to enhance the well-being of the residents. The core application of epidemiological knowledge is to facilitate disease prevention and control. Most countries ensure that prevention and control strategies are appropriate to disease epidemiology and the available resources. Nigeria and the United States are two countries that have varied epidemiological reporting and disease control strategies.
Public health practitioners focus on reviewing the prevalence and incidence of illnesses to control them while enhancing the well-being of the patients. Employees at different levels of surveillance commit to providing accurate data on a timely basis to facilitate outbreaks of infectious illnesses. According to Illesanmi and Babasola (2017, p. 42), health practitioners report improvement to donors and other relevant stakeholders. The acquired data helps address problems related to the control of infectious illnesses while strengthening evolving programs. Research findings indicate that clinicians uphold monitoring and evaluation towards establishing and maintaining effective surveillance systems. Notably, monitoring refers to the continuous and routine tracking and implementation of surveillance activities.
An effective response to disease outbreaks has been one of the significant challenges in developing countries, unlike developed nations. The major hurdles in Nigeria have hindered the accomplishment of core set objectives while enhancing the well-being of the citizens. Nigeria is one of the World Health Organization (WHO) members that reports about five health events annually. Nigeria has encountered numerous health challenges in the health sector based on the prevalence of communicable illnesses and the ineffectiveness of the available systems (Illesanmi & Babasola 2017, p. 43). In the 21st century, the Nigerian health sector has realized little development based on a standard of national health systems. The situation resulted in a handicapped situation in the preparedness and response to outbreaks of infectious illnesses. A timely policy can be translated into practice to facilitate global health while improving future responses to outbreaks of illnesses in the country.
A Comparison of Epidemiological Reporting and Disease Control Strategies
Nigeria is one of the developing countries different from the United States as a technologically developed nation in various ways. However, most residents are from low economic backgrounds, less educated, and likely to experience higher mortality and morbidity rates. As a result, they know less about contributing factors to prevent the occurrence of illnesses. Although illnesses are common in the country, the Nigerian government has fewer resources to enhance medical care while preventing illnesses. One of the contributing factors to handicapped healthcare is efficacious drugs being too expensive and not being readily available to the people in need. Besides, the salaries for the health workers are so low that nurses and physicians must work overtime hours in private clinics to cater to their financial needs.
Establishing and maintaining epidemiological surveillance in an environment such as Nigeria requires a different orientation from the United States. Therefore, scarcity of resources is one of the major concerns in Nigeria as a developing country. As a result, the country spends much time gathering data rather than treatment of illnesses. Besides, an extensive and costly surveillance system results in more harm than good in the country. Unlike the case of the United States, Nigeria has less investment in modern forms of technology. Epidemiologists utilize cases of illnesses and deaths to prevent harm among the citizens in the future. Notably, both the United States and Nigeria should embrace surveillance when scrutinizing various aspects of the occurrence, spread, and control of diseases. One of the significant emphases is the use of systematic data in expediting the control of diseases.
Monitoring and register are the key aspects that expedite monitoring illnesses across Nigeria and the United States. The main focus of the register is enlisting cases that need a long time of treatment, such as leprosy and tuberculosis, to describe the trends of population-based mortality and incidence rates. Surveillance programs effectively identify deaths, injuries, and cases in a population of an illness of interest. Research findings indicate that the process of data gathering is more relevant in the United States as a developed country that has sufficient resources and competent clinicians who adhere to reporting requirements. For example, the United States upholds active surveillance of pneumonia-influenza deaths. Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), routine reporting is a high priority issue when cases are less common. Periodic surveys are standard in developing and developed countries to help address the burden of illnesses in the population.
Besides, Nigeria and the United States have variations in reporting and feedback of illnesses. In an ideal healthcare setting, a surveillance program receives information regularly before providing prompt feedback. The process involves data collection from sensors, such as private practitioners, company physicians, clinics, and hospitals. The United States embraces modern forms of technology in sending medical data to a central site for processing and assessing changes of illnesses over time. Subsequently, the relevant stakeholders have a chance of sharing information that relates to disease control. The two countries utilize either active or passive reporting of the findings. An active approach requires considerable effort and time by the different workers in the healthcare field. On the contrary, physicians complete a form of reportable illnesses in passive surveillance. The United States and Nigeria embrace feedback as an imperative component of the surveillance program to facilitate the decision-making process.
Furthermore, the United States and Nigeria have varied epidemiologic surveillance and system of health information. In developed nations, the government plays a fundamental role in various epidemiologic surveillance activities in the health information system. While field personnel complete reporting forms regularly, the persons who deliver healthcare services should gather data at the community level (Sakib et al. 2020, p. 220). The collected data is relevant for education, evaluation, surveillance, and planning. In such a case, the core objective in Nigeria and the United States is to enhance the population’s overall well-being. However, the former spends much time in data collection due to little investment in modern technology, thus resulting in less time available in healthcare services. In such a case, the country might encounter challenges scheduling immunization, ordering supplies, and other managerial functions. In some instances, government officials are likely to become cynical on quality and reluctant to use data.
Research findings indicate that Nigeria and the United States vary in modern technology in epidemiological reporting and disease control. For instance, the former has embraced the use of microcomputers as an advancement in surveillance programs. The small computers help in revolutionizing surveillance activities, especially for epidemiological research. In such a case, clinicians have a chance to enter data on case records into the computer systems for editing and correction of minor errors. On the contrary, the United States is more developed and has embraced spreadsheet software in expediting data surveillance to determine if or not there are any extreme cases attributable to a pandemic. Besides, the spreadsheet software is effective in reporting mortality and morbidity rates across the country.
A combination of epidemiological and demographic changes has resulted in a rapid shift in Nigeria's disease profile as one of the developing countries. The country has experienced an increase in diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory illnesses, and other forms of chronic illnesses. Behavioral risks, such as unhealthy diets, use of tobacco, and others, are the contributing factors to the prevalence of illnesses in Nigeria as a developing country. In addition, an increase in the aging population has caused a burden on the health system based on increased demand. According to Ibrahim et al. (2020, p. 7), Nigeria has focused on acute care of patients with infectious neonatal and maternal illnesses rather than preventive care that effectively addresses non-communicable illnesses. Notably, government spending remains low in developing countries, such as Nigeria, thus resulting in little access to medical care. For that reason, working-age individuals are likely to die early or even become disabled, resulting from the burden of such illnesses.
Equally, lower-income nations have experienced an epidemiological shift towards focusing on non-communicable illnesses. However, most countries are unprepared for the shift as a significant barrier to adequate healthcare. Ibrahim et al. (2020, p. 6) argue that Nigeria, among other developing countries, has realized a rapid demographic shift, which has caused epidemiological diversity a...