Reducing Burden of Disease

Disease burden can be viewed through the biomedical lens, looking at morbidity, mortality, trends and risk attribution; as well as through the economic lens looking at the direct and indirect costs brought about by the disease. In this chapter, disease burden will be reviewed by looking at the various aspects of implementation science and how this may affect resource-poor communities. An intervention that can successfully work in a financially stable community/society may not work as well in a resource poor community. Interventions that require advanced technology may prove more accessible in countries with ample resources than in limited resource countries. The challenge is to bring quality care with the resources available. Some of the possible solutions to these challenges that could ensure successful implementation of interventions include; developing capacity within the local community, understanding the local health systems, understanding local and pre-existing approaches to disease and, training health systems to engage and understand the perspective of the community towards health.