0 Bewertungen0% fanden dieses Dokument nützlich (0 Abstimmungen)
7 Ansichten4 Seiten
Throughout history, earthquakes have been known to have a catastrophic impact on the world, killing millions, destroying infrastructure and leaving a number of unsettles issues in their wake.
Throughout history, earthquakes have been known to have a catastrophic impact on the world, killing millions, destroying infrastructure and leaving a number of unsettles issues in their wake.
Throughout history, earthquakes have been known to have a catastrophic impact on the world, killing millions, destroying infrastructure and leaving a number of unsettles issues in their wake.
Health Implications of Earthquakes Throughout history, earthquakes have been known to have a catastrophic impact on the world, killing millions, destroying infrastructure and leaving a number of unsettles issues in their wake. For mankind, the biggest challenge is not merely to rebuild the infrastructure and account for the damages and homeless population but also to take measures for the outbreak of various diseases. Population displacement and re-establishment of sanitation infrastructures are the two main challenges posed by earthquakes. At the government level, the need for emergency medical supervision and immediate intervention in order to deal with the threats of various epidemics is also a massive challenge. In a number of cases, the exhaustion of existing resources in dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes is also a major issue. It has been reported that after earthquakes, the general occurrence of a number of cardio vascular diseases increases. Tsunamis too, have been known to result in an increased percentage of pneumonia cases. One possible explanation for this maybe the fact that the displaced population has to live in shelters, that are mostly without the basic provisions, medicines and sanitation infrastructures. With the incidence of aftershocks and extreme temperatures, people have to face detrimental physical and mental stress. Cardio Vascular Diseases are closely linked to activated sympathetic nervous system and high stress levels. It has also been observed that in the incidence of earthquakes, there is an increased ratio of heightened blood pressure levels and elevated heart rates. Under these conditions, when people have to consume preserved or canned food items that are typically high in salt content, the consequences are disastrous to ones health. The same increases chances of sudden strokes in individuals irrespective of their age or gender. The table below gives an indication of the occurrence of different diseases in the event of different earthquakes (Aoki1, T. and et. al, 2012).
One of the safest ways to ensure epidemic prevention after natural calamities such as earthquakes is to provide relief to the survivors and to ensure that they are given proper medical attention. In addition, vaccinating the survivors is also highly recommended. Technologically advanced and sophisticated nations also make use of continuous disease supervision techniques and programs in the aftermath of earthquakes in order to combat the supposed threat of different disease outbreaks. Despite these threats, it is worth highlighting that infectious disease epidemics in the current era is a rare phenomena. The same has been affirmed by WHO studies that have Health Implications of Earthquakes Page 2
spanned different earthquake disasters in the past 20 years. However for more critical diseases such as those related to cardio vascular dysfunctions, there is an immense room for improvement. In order to battle the health implications of earthquakes, it is important to provide options to people which alleviate them from the disastrous mental and physical stress. Provision of medications and fresh food items should also be made possible in such cases. While there are certain factors that are controllable when dealing with earthquake disasters, there are also those which fall completely out of our capacities. The need for greater research and development in this domain is therefore an undeniable need of the hour.
Health Implications of Earthquakes Page 3
References Aoki1, T. and et. al. (2012) The Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster and cardiovascular diseases. European Heart Journal. Volume 33, Issue 22. Pp. 2796-2803.