Uses of Epidemiology

USES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
To study historically the rise and fall of
disease in the population:

First we study the history of disease in human

population.
Diseases and human health are never constant.
For example :
First the study of coronary disease was that it was a
epidemic.
But later many others came about like accidents,
cancer and diabetes was found to be epidemic.
 Community Diagnosis :
Identification of health problems in a community in
terms of mortality, morbidity rates and ratios.
Through this defining of those individuals and
groups that are in risk or are in need of health
care.
Knowledge about the disease, its cause and
prevention should be known.
 Planning and evaluation :
Planning is essential because in many developed
countries, too many hospitals have been built and
equipped without knowledge of the particular
disease problems in the community.
Evaluation should also be done to find out whether
the measures taken are effective in reducing the
frequency of the disease.
 Evaluation of individual risks and chances :
Besides the incidence rate and specific rates which
are measures of absolute risk, the
epidemiologists calculate relative risk and
attributable risk for a factor related to or believed
to be a cause of disease.
The risk of bearing a mongol child and of some
hereditary disorders are classic examples of
evaluating individuals risk and chances.
 Syndrome identification :
Medical syndromes are identified by observing
frequently associated findings in individual
patients
By observations of groups, studies have been able
to correct misconceptions concerning many
disease syndromes.
 Completing the natural history of disease:
The epidemiologist by studying disease patterns in
the community in relation to agent, host and
environmental factors is in a better position to fill
up the gaps n the natural history of disease than
the clinician.
 Searching for causes and risk factors
Epidemiology, by relating disease to interpopulation
differences and other attributes of the population
or cohorts examined, tries to identify the causes
of disease.
For example:
Epidemiological studies have incriminated that
rubella is the cause of congenital defects in the
newborn.
Efforts of International
agencies on health
Promotion
 Definition of health
Health is defined in relation to the
environmental and human
characteristics of peoples daily lives
and the links between them.
 Health promotion is the process of enabling people to
increase control over and improve their health;
Education should also enable people to learn to live
healthily in a world with HIV and AIDS and other major
widespread health risks;
Policy, management and systems should provide
guidance, oversight, coordination, monitoring and
evaluation to ensure an effective, sustainable, and
institutionalized educational response to health
challenges;
Education should enable learners to adopt caring and
supportive attitudes to others as well as protective and
health-seeking behaviours for themselves.
 International agencies contribution
on health promotion
UNESCO plays a leading role inEDUCAIDSand
theUNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on
Education, key mechanisms in strengthening the
UNAIDS combined effort to achieve universal access to
prevention programmes, treatment, care, and
support.
UNESCO supports responses to HIV and AIDS that are
inclusive and sensitive to the needs and issues of all,
but with particular attention to key populations
especially vulnerable to HIV and young people in school
settings. UNESCO also supports responses that are
gender and age responsive, culturally appropriate,
evidence-informed, and grounded in human rights.
 TheWorld Health Organization
(WHO)is the premier international
health organization.
WHO has three main divisions. The
governing body, the World
Health Assembly, meets once a
year to approve the budget and
decide on major matters of health
policy
 The principal work of WHO
1. directing and coordinating international health
activities
2. supplying technical assistance to countries. It
develops norms and standards,
3. disseminates health information,
4. promotes research,
5. provides training in international health,
6. collects and analyzes epidemiologic data,
7. develops systems for monitoring and
8. evaluating health programs.
 The United Nation Children's
Fund (UNICEF)spends the majority
of its program (non-administrative)
budget on health care. UNICEF
makes the world's most vulnerable
children its top priority, so it devotes
most of its resources to the poorest
countries and to children younger
than 5
 TheWorld Bank is the other major
intergovernmental agency related to
the UN heavily involved in
international health. The World Bank
loans money to poor countries on
advantageous terms not available in
commercial markets.
 TheWorld Food Programme
(WFP) supplies food relief in
disasters and coordinates the
activities of NGOs involved in food
relief, as well as assisting them with
transportation and logistics.
THANK YOU !