Non-Medical Obstacles to Public Health Responses

Catalog description

This course will enable students to study obstacles outside of traditional pharmaceutical interventions that have major influences on the success or failure of public health responses. Despite their importance, these impediments are typically studied retroactively instead of being a major component of pre-planning and execution considerations. This course will use a series of case studies to explore Non-Medical Obstacles (NMOs) including security, logistics, communications, and social/cultural issues. Specific areas of focus will be their impact, policy implications, their past mitigation strategies, and future planning opportunities. These NMOs translate across diseases and countries so when their impacts are better understood and incorporated into the planning of future public health responses, it will be possible to provide more effective and efficient care to populations in need.