HP 609 Week 2 Assignment 1: Health Policy Event
Description of the meeting
The speakers discussed that Covid crisis that is taking place in India today. According to the reports, there are 400,00 deaths every day in India from the Virus. It has been a year since the virus was reported all over the world, and the public health department and other health sectors went to work on how to prevent the quick spread could be controlled. Various precautions were implemented, and the world was eventually in lockdown for months. The speakers talked about the variant, factors why the infection and death rated are so high. There were questions on whether the public health has served its people well during this crisis.
Analysis:
Today’s focus will be on India’s Covid-19 crisis surge. This analysis will focus mainly on why there is such a high death rate, causes for this surge, and what preventative measures can be taken. When Covid-19 emerged early 2020, we did not know what it was, how it was transmitted or how it could be prevented. Center for Disease Control (CDC) sprang into action looking for similarities between Covid and the Flu (cdc.org) due to the similarities of symptoms. Covid-19 was later reported to be caused by a variant. In their analysis, experts Bollinger and Ray (2020) discussed the various types of variants that existed in the world, including B 1.351 which was discovered California and South Africa. This means that these variants travel all over the world.
Similarly, the variant in India today has spread so fast that the reported death toll was 4000 for the second straight day (The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2021).
During the forum, Dr. (Vish) confirmed the India variant B 1.617 is responsible for driving the surge to such huge infection and death rates. However, it was also emphasized that even though the variant was to blame for such big impact, there were other factors that contributed to this surge. Factors like lack of proper healthcare, uneven distribution of doctors and nurses, vaccine shortage, communication, leadership, and public noncompliance to warnings.
The biggest problem facing India is the lack of a proper healthcare system. Unlike the U.S which has Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other kinds of insurance, India lacks such a set up. Most of the people live in rural areas where healthcare is unattainable, and if it is, people have to pay out-of-pocket (The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 2021). And making matters worse, the uneven distribution of doctors and nurses. The providers cannot be allocated to areas of need effectively. This in turn hinders the health services that would have been available to the people.
Shortage of vaccines plays are major in India’s surge. While developed nations like U.S, Canada, Germany are getting their people vaccinated, other countries have not required any doses or have less than minimum requested to create herd immunity. Vish (The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2021) actually mentions that all the vaccines have been bought by the wealth countries, leading to a shortage for third-world countries. Comparing the number of people that have received their vaccinations in the U.S and India, the numbers are scary to look at. 264,680,844 doses were administered in the U.S, which is 80 percent of the people, while India has 176,045,577 doses- 13 percent of the people (NYTimes). The low rate is due to vaccine shortage in the country.
The lack of leadership in crisis situation is a great contributor to the quick spread of Covid in India. The leaders lack coordination at state and national level (The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2021) to navigate the solutions to this Covid problem. They have not played by the world health emergency playbook. As Vish (The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2021) explains, there are guidelines to follow when the world is in crisis, and this is one of them. However not only India, but the whole world failed to abide by these guidelines. Cautions like social distancing, wearing masks in public, stay at home orders, curfews were not taken seriously. We should have listened and acted appropriately to all the cautions, but a vast majority did as they wished hence leading to the quick spread.
Unreliable communication coming in from India is another factor. According to Vish (The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2021), different media and people are providing different information about what is really going on in India, so its hard to determine which information is correct. The right channels of communication are yet to be established.
Proposed ways to prevent the crisis include vaccination for all, follow public health strategies like wearing masks, social distancing.
Vish (The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2021) also suggested talking to people in India to find out what they really need. It’s one thing to send supplies to India but it must be the supplies that they really need, such as oxygen, vaccinations, donating funds to organizations that can help the people. (Ivers, The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 2021) emphasizes a lot on having people vaccinated. Suggestions for vaccine donations from first-world countries since they have surplus, to India would be such a big help.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.
Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- The is a great resource
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
Holder, J. (2021, January 29). Tracking Coronavirus Vaccinations Around the World. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html.
India’s COVID-19 Crisis: Variants, Vaccines and Surges. The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2021, May 14). https://theforum.sph.harvard.edu/events/indias-covid-19-crisis/.
New Variants of Coronavirus: What You Should Know. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2020). https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/a-new-strain-of-coronavirus-what-you-should-know.
Week 2 Assignment 1: Health Policy Event
Value: 100 points
Due: Day 7
Instructions
The Health Policy Event you choose to attend must be related to the current week’s topics.
Please submit your Health Policy Event Log for Week 2 in one Word document to this assignment. Access the for full instructions.
Links to Health Policy Events for this Week
- Suggested Health Policy Forums related to Week 2 topics from the Harvard School of Public Health and/or the Boston University School of Public Health listed in the document.
- Explore more recent .
- Explore more recent .
- Explore the webinars of the .
- Explore the webinars of the .
- Explore the webinars of .
- Explore the webinars of .
If you find another event you are interested in attending related to the current week’s topics but are unsure if it would be eligible, email your instructor and ask.
Please refer to the for details on how this activity will be graded.
To Submit Your Assignment:
- Select the Add Submissions button.
- Drag or upload your file to the File Picker.
- Select Save Changes.
Health Policy Event Log Rubric
Criteria | Exceeds Expectations | Meets Expectations | Needs Improvement | Inadequate | Total Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Uses these headings:
|
Log addresses items 1–4.
Posted on time. 15 points |
Log addresses 3 of the 4 items.
Not posted on time. 10 points |
Log addresses 2 of the 4 items.
Not posted on time. 5 points |
Log addresses one of the 4 items.
Not posted on time. 0 points |
15 |
Uses this heading: My analysis of the issue and its implications for health care (500-750 words). | There is robust analysis and evidence of integration of course content, utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is between 500 and 750 words. 35 points |
There is robust analysis with partial evidence of integration of course content utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is between 500 and 750 words. 30 points |
There is minimal analysis, repeats what participants say, and there is partial evidence of integration of course content utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is fewer than 500 words. 25 points |
There is superficial analysis, repeats what participants say, and there is no evidence of integration of course content utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is fewer than 400 words. 20 points |
35 |
Integrates course content and readings into analysis | Course content and readings are integrated into analysis.
Two current (within last six months) references are introduced. 25 points |
Course content and readings are partially integrated into analysis.
One current (within last six months) reference is introduced. 20 points |
Course content and readings are minimally integrated into analysis.
One reference (not current) is introduced. 15 points |
There is superficial integration of course content and readings into analysis.
No references are introduced. 10 points |
25 |
Writing Mechanics and APA Formatting | Few to no writing mechanics or APA errors.
25 points |
Few to several writing mechanics or APA errors.
20 points |
Several to many writing mechanics or APA errors.
15 points |
Many writing mechanics or APA errors.
10 points |
25 |
Total points | 100 |