Public Health & Epidemiology: Cultural Adaptation, Vaccination Issues

This assignment explores key concepts in public health and epidemiology, focusing on the impact of cultural adaptation on disease resistance, the harmful consequences of the anti-vaccination movement, and the effectiveness and ethical considerations of presumed consent policies for organ donation. It uses yam farming as an example of cultural adaptation leading to malaria resistance and discusses how anti-vaccination sentiments can compromise herd immunity and increase the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. The assignment also evaluates the presumed consent policy for organ donation, weighing its potential to increase organ availability against ethical concerns regarding family involvement and individual autonomy. Desklib offers a platform to access similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
Public health and epidemiology
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1PUBLIC HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
Answer 1:
Option 1
One example of the impact of cultural adaptation on reducing diseases includes impact of
yam farming on malaria resistance. People engaged in yam farming have a natural defense force
against malaria. They have higher rate of sickle cell genes that prevents them from malaria. This
occurred because to collect yam, farmers had to chop down trees. Removal of trees increased the
amount of standing water increasing malaria carrying mosquitoes. However, more malaria
created the conditions for sickle shaped cells to become more adaptive and protect against
malaria (Goldman, 2014).
Answer 2:
The harmful consequence of anti-vaccination movement is that delaying or avoiding
vaccination can increase the risk of adverse health effects for children. Persons who are vaccine
skeptics can compromise herd immunity and promote transmission of the chain of infection in a
population. The continuation of anti-vaccination movement can decrease the percentage of
vaccination coverage in a population and ultimately increase morbidity and mortality from
vaccine preventable disease. The mortality and morbidity caused by vaccine preventable diseases
will increase health care cost and burden of the health care system. There is justification to the
movement such as side-effects of vaccine and poor benefits of vaccines. However, these are
wrong concepts which need to be changed (Ołpiński, 2012).
Answer 3:

2PUBLIC HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
I believe presumed consent is an effective policy to increase registration for organ
donation. It has addressed ethical issues in organ donation too by giving public the option to
express their refusal to be a donor of solid organs or tissues. This means those who have not
opposed to the policy are clinically and legally appropriate candidate for organ donation. The
advantage of the presumed consent policy is that it can significantly increase the number of
donation and fulfill the risk of those people who wish to donate their organs without being
registered. Another advantage of presume consent policy is that it alleviates the need to ask
family’s for presumed consent during grieving process and it respect the individual choices of
people by giving them the power to oppose against organ donation. In contrast, the negative
point of presumed consent is that it discourages taking family view on donation and it would
authorize collection of organs even if families do not approve of the same (Organ Procurement
and Transplantation Network, 2017).

3PUBLIC HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
References
Goldman, J. (2014). How human culture influence our genetics. Retrieved from:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140410-can-we-drive-our-own-evolution
Ołpiński, M. (2012). Anti-vaccination movement and parental refusals of immunization of
children in USA. Pediatria polska, 87(4), 381-385.
Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (2017). An Evaluation of the Ethics of
Presumed Consent. Retrieved from: https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/resources/ethics/an-
evaluation-of-the-ethics-of-presumed-consent/