CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti (January 17, 2007) -- Today, medical needs exceed supply. In the Horn of Africa, the civic action team at Combined Task Force-Horn of Africa is bringing preventive medicine strategies and items to try to ease some of the resultant strain.
Preventive medicine is the part of medicine which tries to promote health and prevent disease rather than curing it. It is made up of three points for intervention: primary prevention, secondary prevention and tertiary prevention.
Primary prevention is the cornerstone of preventive medicine. It involves preventing diseases and conditions before they take root in the body. There are many ways to promote health and prevent disease, such as improving human resistance to disease, changing the hazardous environmental exposures, and changing risky behaviors that increase the risk of disease.
Frequently, medical doctors, nurses and technicians from CJTF-HOA and Camp Lemonier work alongside national medical doctors, nurses and technicians to help promote primary prevention issues. These programs are one part of Medical Civic Action Projects (MEDCAP) and occur throughout the Horn of Africa region.
"During MEDCAPs, we've handed out treated bed-netting, given multi-vitamins, and covered basic sanitation principles," said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Christopher Shetterly, a preventive medicine technician from the Camp Lemonier's civic action team. "In an upcoming MEDCAP, the district doctor will talk to people in his community about safe sex to avoid HIV, malaria prevention and basic nutrition."
Other actions that are part of primary prevention can include immunizations, clean water programs and accident prevention programs.
Primary prevention is the least expensive intervention, but it can be difficult to convince people to make permanent lifestyle change or ask communities to change cultural activities that can be hazardous to their health.
Secondary prevention includes identifying diseases that are in someone's body but have not progressed to the point of causing symptoms or organ dysfunction. These conditions are detected by conducting screening exams or tests and then following up on the findings. This level of prevention can also be detected and targeted in MEDCAPs.
"When we [conducted] a MEDCAP in Kenya, the government asked us to screen for diabetes," said Shetterly. "We did that by checking the [village residents'] blood sugar. Those people who had a high reading were referred to the local hospital for continued diabetes tests and possible disease management."
Other screenings that could be part of a secondary prevention program include blood pressure and cholesterol checks to monitor cardiac disease risks, Pap smears to detect cervical cancer or infectious disease pregnancy screening tests to prevent disease transmission to the child.
The final intervention point is called tertiary prevention. This intervention is the most expensive and uses many resources. This point of intervention is also known as disease management. It tries to manage obvious chronic disease and prevent it from causing further organ damage.
This might include avoiding steroids or allergen for people suffering from asthma; screening foot care, eye care and kidney status of diabetics; or anti-clotting medications and physical therapy for stoke patients to regain use of affected body parts.
For preventable diseases, waiting until tertiary prevention is unnecessary and stresses the health care system. People should talk with their medical providers and learn about what they can do to prevent disease.
The mission of CJTF-HOA is to prevent conflict, promote regional stability and protect Coalition interests in order to prevail against extremism.
The CJTF-HOA organization began operations at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti May 13, 2003. With the help of many from Djibouti, it works with Partner nations on humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, consequence management, civic action programs to include medical and veterinary care, school and medical clinic construction and water development projects.
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