Articles: pandemics.
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The latest statistics for the number of new cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa point to the near containment of the virus. While the current threat will not be deemed over until 42 days after the last case to be diagnosed has twice tested negative, there is now a shift in focus from an emphasis on containment to that of policy review and capacity building in light of lessons learned. This article primarily focuses on Sierra Leone. It revisits the issues surrounding the epidemic, seeking to summarise both the negative and positive aspects of the response at local and global levels, as well as highlights fresh perspectives from healthcare workers in the field for the management of similar epidemics.
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Rural Remote Health · Jul 2015
Using a participatory action research framework to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia about pandemic influenza.
This article describes the use and effectiveness of the participatory action research (PAR) framework to better understand community members' perceptions and risks of pandemic influenza. In 2009, the H1N1 influenza pandemic affected Indigenous populations more than non-Indigenous populations in Oceania and the Americas. Higher prevalence of comorbidities (diabetes, obesity, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) as well as pregnancy in Indigenous communities may have contributed to the higher risks of severe disease. Social disparity, institutionalised racism within health services and differences in access to culturally safe health services have also been reported as contributors to disadvantage and delayed appropriate treatment. ⋯ The most effective responses of this project were embedded in pre-existing relationships with individuals within organisations that had been established over a long period of time between Aboriginal medical services and investigators; however, research relationships established specifically for the purposes of the project were less successful because of changes in personnel and organisational support. The participatory approach used in this study has the potential to be applied to vulnerable populations in other countries.