21 Day Isolation, Essay Example

Health care workersreturning from West Africa should notundergo a mandatory period of isolation.  While infectious disease require surveillanceonce these persons do not have a high fever or display as symptoms they should not have tom submit to any isolation. For me this is wrong and violation of their human rights. In United States of America refusing to submit to surveillance is a crime and people could be punished. However, so far this mandatory 21 day isolation is not public health legislation.Isolation as a control strategy is acceptable if the person has been infected. These people while they have served and worked closely with ebola infected patients they are not infected so why place them in isolation. Isolation is only necessary if the persons showsymptoms of the disease (National congress of state legislations (NCSL).

My recommendation for any congressman is first ensuring that public health authorities have the legal right to quarantine health workers returning from West Africa. Once it is not legal departments of health and agencies executing this mandate are liable to be sued. Surveillance laws pertaining to infectious disease related to a person who is already infected or displays symptoms. Therefore, the law should be revised to enable agencies to legally execute the surveillance law. A congressman should then approach congress with a petition that covers both persons who want to comply and those who refuse. The manadate should be voluntary and not manadaory until the due legal process had been achieved (Eysenbach, 240).

Hence, social, political and economic considerations model ought to be presented by the congressman. Social must uphold the human rights of people forced into isolation who have not displayed any symptoms of the disease. Political concept must embrace the government’s intention to protect the nation and economically a realization that an ebolaoutbreak could devastate the nation (The world bank).

Works cited

Eysenbach, G. Infodemiology: Tracking Flu-Related Searches on the Web for Syndromic Surveillance”. AMIA AnnuSymp;Proc2006: 244–8. Print

National congress of state legislations (NCSL) (2014). State quarantine statues. Accessed on December 11^th, 2014 from http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-quarantine-and-isolation-statutes.aspx. Web.

The World Bank. Update on the Economic Impact of the 2014 Ebola Epidemic on Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Accessed on December 11^th, 2014 from http://www.worldbank.org.en/topic/growth/publication/economic-update-ebola-december. Web