Public Health and Global Issues Related to Nursing Practice
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Public Health and Global Issues Related to Nursing Practice
Introduction
Public health and global issues related to nursing practices are common problems that continue facing the field of nursing. One of them is the use of human beings as guinea pigs for experimentation purpose, especially on new medicines. Another one being the misuse of a human being without their consent for medical experiments which has increased cases of human trafficking and other inhuman practices. A famous incident is the Guatemala syphilis Experiment of 1946 by the American researchers who injected poor Guatemalans with syphilis and other STDs to determine the effectiveness of a specific vaccine. Most Guatemalans lost human dignity through this process as some died while others were left to live with permanent effects of the experiment. After the end of the slave trade, human trafficking took the place of slavery because of the constant demand for cheap labour and also people for experimentations. Humanity continues to suffer because of such greed for quick money at the expense of human lives.
Summary
Poverty and political instability in most developing countries force their citizens to seek for better lives elsewhere in some cases ending up as slaves without their knowledge. In Guatemala, for example, life was disrupted because it affected the whole country since most people used for the test were soldiers, sex workers and other vulnerable groups who spread the disease faster. A lot of money was used for treatment as other families lost their breadwinners as they fell sick. Economy and population are negatively affected because the most productive community in the society are ill and cannot work effectively. The technological issue is another problem in the nursing practice because if used positively, it helps solve health problems facing people. Still, if used negatively as in the case of Guatemala, it can cause human suffering. Technology has also contributed largely to issues such as human trafficking which encourages modern-day slavery because people have been lured to slavery without their knowledge by cartels operating various syndicates across the world.
Discussion
Guatemala Syphilis Experiment
Guatemala syphilis experiment by America medical research of 1946 to 1948 is one of the unethical medical experiment ever to be conducted. Innocent Guatemalans were infected with syphilis disease without their consent in an attempt by American researchers to test the effectiveness and value of different antibiotic medications such as the penicillin. According to the report, a total population of 5,500 people in Guatemala were involved in the study that included: soldiers, children, prisoners’ sex workers and psychiatric patients. About a quarter of this population were deliberately injected with syphilis, gonorrhoea, and cancroid for the experiment. Investigations did several years after the study has shown that most Guatemalans whose parents were used as Guinea pigs had their health affected while others died some were born paralyzed. Syphilis injection impacted the Guatemalans negatively because many lives were lost while others were born with different complication. Contrary, this injection was favourable to the United States as it helps them determine the most effective medication for syphilis infection.
The Guatemala Experiment- Nazi Style Human Experimentation by US Government
American researchers have been accused of deliberately causing human suffering among the Guatemalans to generate medication for syphilis. The Guatemalan government was not aware of the researcher’s intentions and therefore, did not do anything to prevent the blatant abuse of human rights by the Americans. As a case with all poor and third world countries, developing countries have, on several occasions, used their economic advantage to mistreat developing countries under the guise of providing help. 0n the nursing practice perspective it was very unethical and wrong for American researchers to use such methods of endangering the lives of a community of people to find a solution to a problem facing another group of people. Human lives were lost as a result while families were separated from their loved ones because they died of syphilis. In contrast, others were left struggling to treat and care for those who were affected by the syphilis injections making families lower.
Passion Freedom Film on Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, according to the film unsuspecting people from developing countries are lured by unscrupulous human traffickers who promise them better lives abroad but end up enslaving them. Most people have found themselves in slavery without their knowledge as they strive for better experiences abroad while others, even in their own countries. Participants in the film mainly discuss the global phenomenon of human trafficking, which includes; reasons, mechanisms, and also strategies to combat human trafficking. From the movie, modern-day slavery continues to happen because of the failure by governments across the world to regulate and manage the migration of people. Human traffickers capitalize on this loophole to run their businesses undeterred. Corruption also plays a very vital role in encouraging human trafficking because cartels running this syndicate can easily buy their way out in case of arrest.
Modern-Day Slavery
Victims of human trafficking continue suffering as their fundamental human rights are violated; for example, some are forced to work for long hours without pay or even anything substantial to eat. They are overworked at the expense of those who sold them to their masters at a fee, which is illegal and against international human rights. Others are forced to become sex workers by those that own them, which is risky and health-threatening. Some of their masters are pimps who use them as a source of income without caring about their welfare. In the film, a young lady narrates how she was lured unsuspectingly and used as a sex tool even when she had an accident. A clear indication that slavery still exists, only that it is practised differently, slavery continue to cause misery to victims and their close relatives who are always in constant fear of the unknown about their loved ones.
Conclusion
Ideally, to prevent misuses of human beings in the medical practices, it is prudent that economic, social and political disparities facing different countries be addressed. Developing countries are mostly affected by the issue of human beings used as guinea pigs and human trafficking, which enslaves many without their knowledge. In ensuring nursing practices are ethical, players in this field should strive to always treat human lives with dignity without prejudice on both their social and economic status. Public health and nursing practices should be free from any form of human mistreatment by remaining open on their operations. Victims of human abuse by nursing and other health researchers, for example, Guatemala must be compensated, and those with health complications be treated for free so that they do not become a burden to their already impoverished society. Human trafficking should be declared an economic crime, and anyone found committing it to be given harsh jail conditions, by having such measures, it will be easy to achieve ethical nursing practices.