The focus of lecture this week was the state of healthcare in West African countries compared to the United States. The lecture also identified the ways in which government agencies such as the CDC and WHO measure and encourage progress in healthcare. I enjoyed learning about how WHO uses metrics like Millenium Development Goals to quantify and inspire improvements in public health. Learning about malaria and Ebola was also very interesting, especially because Ebola has been in the media a lot lately. It was interesting to me that many times the effects on survivors and healthcare workers after being infected with Ebola are not discussed. The media helps perpetuate the stigma surrounding the disease and the survivors must deal with the consequences of this stigma, including losing their jobs and being alienated.

    Overall, this week’s lecture was eye-opening. I didn’t realize how large the discrepancy between healthcare in the United States versus West African countries was until analyzing the WHO statistical profiles. The mortality rate of children younger than 5 years old and the prevalence of diseases like stunting, which I hadn’t even heard of until this lecture, were most shocking to me. After this week’s lecture and homework assignment, I want to look more into the state of healthcare in other countries and try to investigate what causes the differences between countries. I found a few sources on economic and social explanations for public health discrepancies in certain countries, but I think more research would provide a better understanding of these discrepancies.