Broadly, the core purpose of a public health campaign is to protect large populations of people from health adversities (Sprinks, 2010). There are many things to consider when developing such campaigns. However, this paper shows that ethical issues are the most valuable concerns when developing a public health campaign. Ethics is an important issue in public health because it underscores the importance of balancing individual freedoms and liberties with the responsibility of authorities to influence personal health decisions (VDH, 2011). This discussion highlights a central argument in public health planning, which explores whether adopting health-promoting behavior is an individual choice or a responsibility of the government (Quitnet, 2011). For example, some governments compel people who suffer from highly infectious diseases to receive treatment. Similarly, some of them have criminalized intentional HIV infections. Current public health awareness programs in Sierra Leone (to manage Ebola) also highlight the narrow divide between individual liberties and government interventions because health authorities forcibly prevent the movement of people and isolate infected persons to manage the disease (World Health Organisation, 2015). Relative to the discussions about ethical concerns in public health, Krebs (2008) says, “The central ethical dilemma, therefore, in public health, is to balance respect for individual freedom and liberty with the responsibility of governments to provide their citizens with some degree of protection, relative to health matters” (p. 2). Broadly, based on the details highlighted in this paper, ethics is an important issue in developing a public health campaign because it describes the boundary between individual freedoms and government responsibilities.
Which Factors may facilitate the Planning for the Public Health Campaign?
The success, or failure, of public health campaigns depends on the success or failure of the planning process (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). To formulate an effective public health plan, health administrators need to have an effective strategy that would meet the needs of the affected populations and promote the associated public health goals. Several factors could affect their efficacy in this regard. However, this paper identifies an integrated plan as an effective facilitator of public health campaigns. The government has a huge role to play in this regard because an easy way of meeting health objectives is integrating public health goals in a comprehensive national plan. By integrating health objectives in a country’s master plan, it would be easy to achieve positive health outcomes because there would be more resources allocated to managing the associated public health issue (Re3.org, 2011). This fact partly explains why public health workers in Sierra Leone had trouble managing the epidemic because the health care system was inefficient and could not accommodate the health needs that emerged from the disaster. Integrating the country’s health goals with the nation’s growth master plan would have helped to promote public health campaigns to prevent the spread of Ebola by allocating more resources to health care service provision.
Another facilitating factor in public health planning is an educated public. An educated demographic could easily understand health education initiatives, thereby making it easier for health practitioners to carry out their duties. Unlike populations that have low literacy levels, such demographics would easily adopt health-promoting behaviors, thereby improving community health outcomes (World Health Organisation, 2015).
Factors that may inhibit the Planning Process
Several factors could inhibit public health planning processes. However, in the context of the Sierra Leone public health campaign, fear and culture posed the highest impediments to public health campaigns. Indeed, when people have strong cultural beliefs and practices that increase the risk of epidemics, public health officials are less likely to realize positive health outcomes from a public health campaign (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). For example, contact with dead persons in Sierra Leone undermined public health campaigns (to prevent Ebola) because infection rates increased this way (World Health Organisation, 2015). Eating bush meat (an age-old cultural practice in West Africa) also undermined public health efforts to prevent Ebola in the region by increasing the risk of re-infection among communities (World Health Organisation, 2015).
Poor infrastructure is another inhibiting factor in public health planning. This challenge could undermine efforts by public health officials to reach remote villages and educate their inhabitants about health issues. Alternatively, such infrastructure challenges could delay public health interventions, thereby making it difficult to manage health crises, on time. Similarly, the same challenge could cause delays in transportation of drugs, thereby leading to unnecessary deaths. Collectively, this paper identifies retrogressive cultures and poor infrastructure as common inhibitors to proper health care planning.
Ways to Address the Inhibiting Factors
The best way to address the inhibiting factors that undermine a public health program is to educate the public about the risks of practicing retrogressive cultural practices. Such a strategy would also increase people’s consciousness about the impact of diseases in their communities and help them to minimize the risk of infection. Involving celebrities and influential personalities in health promotion programs could also help to overcome some of the inhibiting factors identified in this paper (MTV, 2011). This recommendation stems from studies that have shown improved health outcomes through celebrity involvement (MTV, 2011). Particularly, such studies have shown that influential personalities are catalysts to behavioral change. Therefore, people would be motivated to adopt health-promoting behaviors, or stop practicing retrogressive cultural practices, if they see influential personalities, or their role models, doing the same.
References
Krebs, J. (2008). The importance of public-health ethics. Web.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Introduction to communications, marketing, and public relations for public health leaders. Baltimore, MD: Author.
MTV. (2011). It is Your Sex Life. Web.
Quitnet. (2011). Wyoming Quit Tobacco Program. Web.
Re3.org (2011). Coordinator Resources. Web.
Sprinks, J. (2010). Public health campaign launched to promote safe sex for over-50s. Nursing Standard, 25(3), 10.
VDH. (2011). Quit Now Virginia. Web.
World Health Organisation (WHO). (2015). Sierra Leone: a traditional healer and a funeral. Web.