Term Paper: Ebola Attack and the Adoption Of Advanced Technological Equipment
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EBOLA ATTACK AND THE ADOPTION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT
An Overview
The year 2014 marked the historical calendar with the highest number of Ebola incidences ever recorded. Discovered to have erupted in March 2014, the Epidemic rapidly became the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in 1976. For instance, this unique occurrence of Ebola has been five times more lethal than all of the past types of Ebola ever discovered, and five times more than all of the ever known Ebola outbreaks when combined. This makes it the deadliest ever in history.
Counting 21 months down the line since the first case came into occurrence, that’s 23rd March 2014, it took the massive holocaust of 11,315 people reportedly dead within this strict time frame. The deceased come from the Ebola epicenter six countries; Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the US and Mali. The total number of reported cases stands to be 28,637 (WRITERS, 2016). As a result of this grief situation, it took the mercy of philanthropic states to intervene and try to abate this. The virus proved an ugly head necessitating introduction of better tools and technology to get eradicated effectively. For that matter, this paper, hence, it seeks to understand the main reasons why Ebola Outbreak necessitated an equal change in technology. The article also discusses on the specific technological advancements made, their functionality, the interception and the future outlook of these healthcare technological changes.
Reasons for the need to use advanced technology in combating the epidemic
Now that the speed of spread of Ebola was extremely fast beyond the cure of the available staff, effects too were quite detrimental and beyond the cure. On very rare occasion could people be detected and diagnosed with the infection, and by then it was too late. This extreme crisis highlighted the need for bolstering global surveillance and enhancing of capability to appropriately react to further outbreaks.
Emerging technologies could assist in the early-warning systems, outbreak response and communication between healthcare providers, wildlife, and veterinary professionals (Rashid Ansumana, Jesse Bonwitt, David A Stenger, Kathryn H Jacobsen, 2014).
This should involve the making use of modern technologies for detecting disease, sharing information in real time and analyzing data (M. E. J. Woolhouse, A. Rambaut, P. Kellam, 2015).
Ebola epidemic has been impeded by misinformation, as well as lacking of information regarding the response like the virus transmission, infection control options, case notification, good service availability and geographic spread of disease. Furthermore, most of the healthy workers lacked well-equipped information in the handling of the EVD epidemic. For instance, the travel restrictions imposed by the governed aggravated the situation. Travelling was hampered by those who would be medical trainees although they lacked the rudimental basics in the handling of the EVD epidemic.
This called for an emergency action because of how severe the situation is. Up to &33 billion had been incurred since the outbreak became prevalent, the demand for immediate action had to be the making of technological advancements like the use of health and health to respond to the situation quickly.
New technological tools needed for Ebola response
Technology plays part and parcel in Ebola containment. Whereas s new cases of Ebola kept up surging exponentially, they with time outstripped the available treatment equipment. The existing amenities like beddings in countries like Liberia had been meant to curb only a small number of patients, with the advent of new proliferating cases, there was great urgency to involve new instruments to curb the spread of the infection (Help, 2014).
Mobile network platforms carrying essential treatment tools and relevant information were initiated which would help reach out to infected people and households with the most relevant information for rescue, for financial assistance and to help monitor vital epi-surveillance information.
Technology as well played the key role of mapping geolocate Ebola outbreaks as well as collecting of, and sharing of data in due time.
Some of the tools used for Ebola combating and response included: community mobilization mechanisms, case management, the point of diagnosis care tools, big data analytic solutions, financial support and payment distribution as well as logistics management.