Divining Without Seeds: The Case for Strengthening Laboratory Medicine in Africa - Couverture rigide

Livre 3 sur 52: The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work

Okeke, Iruka N.

 
9780801449413: Divining Without Seeds: The Case for Strengthening Laboratory Medicine in Africa
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0801449413 ISBN 13 : 9780801449413
Editeur : ILR Press, 2011

Synopsis

Infectious disease is the most common cause of illness and death in Africa, yet health practitioners routinely fail to identify causative microorganisms in most patients. As a result, patients often do not receive the right medicine in time to cure them promptly even when such medicine is available, outbreaks are larger and more devastating than they should be, and the impact of control interventions is difficult to measure. Wrong prescriptions and prolonged infections amount to needless costs for patients and for health systems. In Divining without Seeds, Iruka N. Okeke forcefully argues that laboratory diagnostics are essential to the effective practice of medicine in Africa.

The diversity of endemic life-threatening infections and limited public health resources in tropical Africa make the need for basic laboratory diagnostic support even more acute than in other parts of the world. This book gathers compelling case studies of inadequate diagnoses of diseases ranging from fevers--including malaria--to respiratory infections and sexually transmitted diseases. The inherited and widely prevalent health clinic model, which excludes or diminishes the hospital laboratory, is flawed, to often devastating effect. Fortunately, there are new technologies that make it possible to inexpensively implement testing at the primary care level. Divining without Seeds makes clear that routine use of appropriate diagnostic support should be part of every drug delivery plan in Africa and that diagnostic development should be given high priority.

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À propos de l?auteur

Iruka N. Okeke is Associate Professor of Biology at Haverford College. She is coeditor of Antimicrobial Resistance in Developing Countries.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
ILR Press
Date d'édition
2011
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0801449413
ISBN 13 
9780801449413
Reliure
Relié
Numéro d'édition
1
Nombre de pages
240
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible