Public health offers a robust future
Manish Kumar Singal

Who are the people behind messages like — 'Keep your cooler free from stagnant water; 'Spray kerosene oil in tanks', 'Use mosquito coils etc'? Yes, such directions come from the desk of epidemiologists who keep working to trace the causes for various diseases. These professionals are mostly employed by NGOs, government organisations and hospitals.

Public health specialists conduct increasingly complex investigations into the outbreak of diseases, implement and analyse new surveillance systems and conduct sophisticated research. These professionals are required to develop national strategies and implement existing ones for detecting and containing emerging infectious diseases.

Says Prof K. Kannan, a senior Professor in Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, "Epidemiologists attempt to explain the occurrence of diseases and also suggest the environmental and other factors that might influence their development."

Dr S.K. Jain of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) says, "Epidemiologists are professionals who keep an eye on emerging diseases like malaria, bird flue, tuberculosis etc."

New areas

"Epidemology as a career evolved rapidly after World War II. In the present times, it is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related problems in specified populations, and the application of scientific knowledge to control these," says Prof Kannan.

He further says that these professionals are necessary at the national, state and local levels to successfully implement stretagies for the control and prevention of communicable diseases.

Dr. Jain says that the emergence or spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS, SARS and avian influenza have further demonstrated the growing importance of epidemiologists.

Field work

These professionals do not practice in clinics. Rather, they work in research centres to trace the possible infectious germs that can spread dreaded diseases among the masses. They devise methods to prevent these diseases and also cure them.

When an epidemic breaks out, these researchers set out to do their work of collecting data, samples of blood, skin, etc — all the things that might throw any light on the epidemic.

Prof. Kannan says that the prevention of malaria and tuberculosis was possible just because of the sustained efforts of these professionals. "Epidemiologists are on the job to find out the possible factors responsible for diseases like bird flu.

Future prospects

From the career point of view, these professionals are needed not only by hospitals but also by the research organisations. These are the highly paid professionals and the government hires these professionals through the UPSE. UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank and other NGOs and government organisations overseas hire these professionals at sky-high salaries. Besides, the state governments also have special quota for these professionals. Epidemiologists can specialise in specific branches or diseases like AIDS, malaria, bird flu, microbiology etc.