Online Distance Learning Forum

The horror of the events over the last few weeks in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has overshadowed everything else in the world's news. The sight of the glorious city of New Orleans submerged in water - and the growing horrors to be found as the water subsides, makes ordinary September discussion - new programs and new degrees, seem superfluous and crass. The only new starts I can think of are of those whose homes and livelihoods have been lost.

As a UK resident and educational writer, I do not feel qualified to discuss the political implications of Hurricane Katrina and the plight of New Orleans and surrounding areas. However, one thing seems certain. For both the displaced citizens of New Orleans and the ones that refuse to move, there is another potential tragedy - that of the severe threat to public health.

The growing threat to public health in New Orleans is one of the first that needs to be solved. For those in charge of public health in the area, the immediate and only guarantee for public health seems to be complete evacuation. As we are seeing, this seems to be easier said than done. One of the many images that stood out to me from the BBC's coverage of New Orleans was that of a doctor saying that he had been the only doctor in New Orleans for four days. For the people stranded in the area in the initial aftermath, public health management was non-existent.

In the surrounding states offering refuge to the refugees from Louisiana and Mississippi, we are seeing positive examples of public health management. In Alabama, the Public Health Department has been swift to come to the aid of refugees and to apologise to Alabama's citizens whose own public health provision has been temporarily compromised. Alongside medical assistance, Alabama is offering hundreds of beds in nursing homes, hospitals and shelters for the needy.

Meanwhile, public health professionals in Texas have been testing the water being pumped from New Orleans and have found dangerously high levels of contamination. This has ramifications both for those New Orleans citizens that refuse to leave, and for those residents who will eventually be able to return to their homes.

It is obvious that, alongside the rebuilding of houses, businesses and lives in New Orleans, that the ongoing task of maintaining and controlling public health in the area will be massive. There will be challenges for present and future public health professionals, and lessons to be learned on how public health in disasters should be managed.
There has been a great deal of talk about, and investment in, homeland security. Amid the present and future recriminations after the horror in Louisiana and New Orleans, public health will stand out next to wetland security. If you are planning to undertake an online degree in the near future, you may want to consider public health education. For the last few weeks have made it clear that, even in the richest nation in the world, there is a great need for dedicated and well-trained public health professionals.