I became interested in policy analysis, in the diverse fields of human health care after I graduated from high school. This has, therefore, propelled me towards taking the International Agency in Health Course as it offers an opportunity to achieve my dream of becoming a health policy analyst. Gaining this position would enable me to implement health policies that would better the lives of many people and even nations all over the world. Secondly, the position would enable me to attain my dream of helping people in third-world countries gain access to better health care.
The international agencies in health courses will help in the comprehension of the various health agencies in the world. This will help me in choosing the correct agency to work for so that it will make it possible to accomplish my ambition of establishing better health care services in the third world. This course will also enable me to enter another field of public health in order to increase my competency and chances of achieving my mission. Once I have completed this course, I would register for a bachelor’s degree in public health in order to have a better understanding of the field of public health.
At the end of my studies, I would like to concentrate on polio. Poliomyelitis is a disease that has affected humankind for over 5000 years. Only a few people refer to the condition as a global health emergency, probably because less than 1000 people suffering from the disease (Robinson).
However, this perspective changed in 2012 when the World Health Organization proclaimed polio as a global pandemic. The World Health Assembly, therefore, requested the member states to fund the polio vaccine initiative (Robinson 137). Polio is still a threat in the developing world and all the health care stakeholders should concentrate their efforts on exterminating it (MacGarty and Nott 125).
The world has achieved a significant decline in the fight against the disease since the eradication campaigns kicked it off in 1988 off. More than 350000 children succumbed to polio every year during the 1980s while there were only 65 documented cases of the disease in 2011. India became polio-free while Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan documented 60 cases in 2012 (Robinson 157).
Nevertheless, the polio emergency is not in the number of patients who succumb to it, but the repercussions of failure, not because the disease may resurface and kill many, but because the project might attract the perspective of a failed multi-billion project and might not attract future funding. Polio will also act as a determinant of the level of funding towards other projects carried out by WHO, as financiers might reduce their contributions to the projects fearing failure.
Poliomyelitis, therefore, presents a challenge to the World Health Organization’s policymakers. The challenge is in making sure that every infant gets vaccinated. Lack of vaccination can result in a fatal resurgence of the disease. Robinson notes that although it is difficult to contain polio, the success story of India offers a glimpse of hope that it is possible to eradicate the condition (342).
In conclusion, this paper records polio as a global public health concern and emphasizes on actions necessary to eradicate it. The paper demand formulation of plans by governments and policymakers to ensure that all infants get immunized.
References
MacGarty, David and David Nott. Disaster Medicine, Volume 0. New York City: Springer, 2012. Print.
Robinson, Luther. We Made Peace with Polio. Whitefish, Montana: Literary Licensing, LLC, 2012. Print.