Entomology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Entomology - Essay Example Edward Jenner’s small pox vaccine that was developed from the cowpox provided the much-needed remedy for the dreaded disease and currently, the world is free of small pox infection. Since then, many vaccines have been developed and they have saved many lives besides enhancing the life expectancy of people on earth. Vaccines have eliminated once infectious diseases such as polio, yellow fever and leprosy in European countries, though low prevalent rates of these infections are still recorded in various parts of the developing world. Following the benefits of vaccination, I have moral obligation to the society and myself to be vaccinated against in order to preserve my health and protect other member from being infected. Vaccines are important medical interventions for saving lives and protecting people in the society from becoming sick (Maxcy, 1998). Prevalence of disease in any population is a huge impediment to economic growth that undermines development in all societies. Hig hly infectious diseases reduce the labor force in society, especially when it affects the most productive demographic group. In addition, high child mortality occurs in societies with high prevalence rates of fatal and infectious disease. This results to heavy economic losses, arising from the lost manpower hours that occur from absenteeism, bed rests and hospital admissions. The importance of vaccination in the society cannot be overemphasized. According to Maxcy (1998), life expectancy has increased dramatically world wide, compared to the last one hundred years. This has resulted to high populations that provide labor and market for the growing economies. Vaccination is not simply an individual decisions from which the person benefits or suffers. In the contemporary society, the life of each individual directly or indirectly affects that of another person. This implies that every society has a moral right of withholding practices that ensure the safety and health of every member. The society comprises of different categories of people, with varying health status and different health needs. Children and the elderly are very vulnerable groups, prone to infections that easily incapacitate or cause death. These groups rely on the other able groups in the population to provide security and health. Children rely on their parents for protection just like the elderly rely on their children to take care of them during old age. Failure of a guardian to vaccinate his or her child from infection is morally wrong because the child is not mature enough to make independent decisions about her or his life. Moreover, a child or anybody who is not vaccinated presents a health hazard to the rest of community members. I have moral obligation to the society and myself to be vaccinated. As a person, I am aware that my health and life are of great importance to the society and me. I have dreams, goals and aspirations that keep me going and they determine my purpose here in the pl anet. In this respect, I am aware that failure to become vaccinated against serious infections makes me vulnerable to disease that definitely affects my health and subsequent productivity in work and my studies. As a responsible citizen in the country, I am aware that the state of health of other vulnerable people depends on me. The decisions that I make about my own health determine their health as well and therefore failing to become vaccinated is morally wrong