TROPICAL DISEASE

Tropical Disease



Tropical Disease & its Treatment in Finland

Introduction

I have chosen the topic of tropical diseases in this research report. The author in this chapter has descrbed that tropics are usually defined as that part of the equatorial world bounded by the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Defining a tropical infectious disease is not as straightforward. Almost all infectious diseases can be found in the tropics; there are a great number that occur predominantly in the tropics; and there are a few, such as sleeping sickness, that are only found in the tropics. Before discussing some of the more prevalent tropical infections of today, it is worth taking a brief look at the history of a few of these infections.

There are various types of tropical diseases like Malaria, Leishmaniasis, Amebiasis, Giardiasis, Schistosomiasis, Traveler's Diarrhea, Yellow Fever, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D and E, Fungal infections(skin rashes), Bacterial skin infections (open sores, cuts), Chagas Disease, Cholera—caused by Vibrio cholerae, Dengue fever, CutaneTungiasis etc.

Inexpensive and effective medications are available to treat most tropical infectious diseases in Finland. Contributing to this problem are Finland patent protection laws that prohibit the manufacture and distribution of inexpensive copies of expensive medications patented by multinational pharmaceutical companies. Also, treatment of many of these diseases in Finland, such as tuberculosis and malaria, is now complicated by the emergence of resistance to first-line, traditional medications. Unfortunately, and perhaps understandably for the pharmaceutical industry, financial incentives to develop new products are lacking for a marketplace in which the Finland's poorest reside. Without the development of new drugs and vaccines, it is possible that we may not be able to effectively treat resistant tropical infectious diseases, relegating a significant proportion of the world's population to suffer or die needlessly.

Methodology

Research Design

The study was based on quantitative research design. Quantitative research is research involving the use of structured questions where the response options have been predetermined and a large number of respondents are involved.

By definition, measurement must be objective, quantitative and statistically valid. Simply put, it's about numbers, objective hard data. A scientifically calculated sample of people from a population is asked a set of questions on a survey to determine the frequency and percentage of their responses. For example: 240 people, 79%, of a sample population, said they are more confident of the better treatment of tropical disease in Finland. Because the sample size is statistically valid, the 79% finding can be projected to the entire population from which the sample was selected. Simply put, this is quantitative research (Brownson, 2001).

The sample size for a survey is calculated by statisticians using formulas to determine how large a sample size will be needed from a given population in order to achieve findings with an acceptable degree of accuracy. Generally, researchers seek sample sizes which will yield findings with at least a 95% confidence level (which means that if you repeated the survey 100 times, 95 times out of a hundred, you would get the same response) and a ...