Posted: June 11th, 2015

disease burden and justification as to why it is an important public health problem; and 2. Approaches to prevention and control, and explain how the magnitude of the problem may be reduced.

You are asked to assist an international aid agency that has expressed interests to
promote prevention and control strategies for a particular public health problem in a
developing country or countries. Your assistance will be in the form of writing a 3000
word essay providing relevant information about the chosen disease priority or condition.
The paper should include an analysis of the burden of disease/condition, justification for
prevention/control measures, a discussion of appropriate and effective prevention/control
measures in the chosen country/region.
You may nominate a specific low to middle income country (resource poor setting) or a
region. Specifically you are asked to provide an analytical discussion covering:
1. Introduction, disease burden and justification as to why it is an important public
health problem; and
2. Approaches to prevention and control, and explain how the magnitude of the problem
may be reduced.
Choose from any of the following five options:
• A communicable disease or a related group of communicable diseases;
• Nutritional deficiency condition;
• A non-communicable condition or related group of non-communicable conditions
• A category of Mental Health disorders; or
• A category of injury (external cause).
You may choose a particular disease/condition considered a priority in developing
countries outside of the lectures for this core unit to broaden your knowledge.
Please follow the outline provided and use the major subheadings to facilitate the flow of
your discussion written in an essay format.
Outline of assignment
1. Introduction, disease burden, socio-economic implications and justification (50%)
Epidemiology of the disease or condition – describe disease burden in terms of global
context and burden within the chosen country or region
Distribution of disease/condition by age, sex, urban/rural, and other major groups.
Causative factors of the disease or condition – identify direct and indirect determinants
Impact of disease/condition on population mortality, morbidity and quality of life.
Trends or changes with disease pattern over time eg mutation of pathogen,
dietary/behavioural/environmental influences
Socio-cultural and economic burden
Personal, family and social effects of disease or condition – analyse knowledge, attitudes,
practices and health seeking behaviours.
Economic costs of disease/condition: direct (health care); indirect (loss of productivity) –Sydney School of Public Health Last updated: 11/05/2015
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impact on individual, community and nation
Justification for the project on the basis of the information gathered above.
2. Approaches to prevention and control in the population of specific country/region
(50%)
Current prevention and control measures– analyse what has already been done and
identify challenges
Given the identified challenges/issues, analyse current preventive measures and
recommend a public health response to the disease or condition
What qualitative/quantitative methods could be used to assess/evaluate the magnitude of
the problem and consequently aid the development of an effective prevention/control
strategy in resource poor settings?
Of the approaches to prevention and control available, analyze where the emphasis
should lie on the basis of evidence of effectiveness.