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GLOBALIZATION AND HEALTH

June 20, 2005

When we read about globalization, it always seems it is from an economic perspective. There is another aspect to globalization which affects us as health care providers. Individuals can travel rapidly around the globe, which means it is possible to contract rare and dangerous infectious illnesses endemic to another part of the world and return to the U.S. with this disease. Then, this individual seeks treatment at your VA facility.

Diseases which we studied in school, and 30 years ago would probably never have been seen in our health care careers, are now likely to show up in some of our patients. These diseases include:

malaria,
hemorrhagic fever, and
leishmaniasis.

Are you and your nurse colleagues prepared to care for and treat our patients with these and other tropical and/or rare diseases?