National Health and Medical Research Council Strategic Plan

Question: Discuss about the National Health and Medical Research Council Strategic Plan. Answer: Introduction Lead is a natural occurring metal that is used for different things. Its mostly used in construction and in making batteries. If one get exposure to it, it causes a lot of health problems. The most affected ones are the unborn and the children since their bodies absorb and retain the lead for a very long time. Lead poisoning is very common, and children are the most likely to get exposure to it. It's 1% of the global burden of disease according to world health organization. The sources of exposure to lead vary from country to country. Some countries use a lot of lead products while others have minimized the use of it(Armstrong R, 2014). Every year more than 300,000 children between the ages of 1 to 5 are found out with a high level of lead in their blood. Children exposure to lead may have brain development problems and may be anemia. Lead poisoning is very dangerous in the body because once it gets in the system, it is distributed throughout the body by the blood. Lead in the blood damages the red cells and limit the ability of oxygen to reach other organs in the body(Gemmel A, 2002). The recognition of the disease greatly varies from country to country and the programs used to reduce the exposure. Australia has recognized the disease, and they are doing a lot to ensure its exposure is reduced. For instance, they have programs that help individuals to know how to avoid lead and where they can easily get exposed to the lead (Canberra NHMRC, 2012). A lot of developing countries have not put measures to avoid and to reduce the lead exposure. Mostly because they dont have the finances and resources to do so. Literature review Dose-response data There has been a lot of debate has to which level of lead is considered harmless, but no lead level has been proving to be harmless. The different lead level in the human boy has a different health effect. Lead dose response is two; simple linear model and a nonlinear model. Simple linear model is where the increase health effect is through increasing blood lead level. While the nonlinear model is where the health effect changes with the region of lead dose. The lead changes as a result of increased doses to a level that it reaches the lead bound. At this point, the health damage is very massive cause organ damage. Routes of exposure Lead gets into the body through inhalation and ingestion. After it enters the body, its absorbed, distributed and excreted. The rate of lung absorption is very high as compared to intestinal absorption; this results to high lead in taking through inhalation. Lead distribution in the body is through blood, soft tissues, and mineralizing tissues. It travels in the blood and soft tissues but later it's stored in the bones and teeth. The remaining lead that is not distributed in the blood is later on excreted out of the body through urine making kidney the route for lead excretion. Maternal lead crosses to the fetus and the unborn blood get the lead. The baby is born, he/she will be already affected with the lead disease and will have brain development problems. Lead is more serious in young ones than in grown up people due to their fragile tissues. Research shows that aging adults are at high risk of lead disease than the middle age people. Children absorb 40 50% of oral lead through the water while adults absorb 3- 10% of the same. Lead in children has been found harmful due to their continuous growth. The lead that is stored in the bones is released back into the blood every time the bones grow(Fulton M, 1987). Unlike in adults where the lead in the bones is rarely released back into the blood. Associated health outcomes Lead poisoning causes a lot of health problems as discussed below;- Nervous system and brain damage Lead in the body is very toxic to many parts of the body; it has been proven to damage the brain and the peripheral nerves. These nerves connect the brain and the spinal cord, when damaged it can weaken the muscles and cause lack of sense of touch. Lead removes the myelin insulation and destroys axons hence preventing the nerves from transmitting the message properly to the brain and the rest of the body(JM., 1990). Cardiovascular effect Lead exposure is associated with cardiovascular diseases like coronary heart disease and stroke mortality. Lead cause the heart rate to vary and these causes the increase in the blood pressure causing hypertension. The hypertensive effect of lead has been proven by exposing animals to high levels of lead, and the results were positive(Adhikari, 2001). There is a relationship between the lead and high blood pressure and people with the disease should avoid more exposure to the lead Renal effect Lead exposure is a very toxic to a lot of the body organs one it is the kidney. High level of lead in the body becomes toxic to the kidney. The kidney is the principal organ that excretes lead out of the body, but too much of it is harmful to the body. Research shows that kidney failure is not very common though it exists. Lead exposure cause 1% of the kidney failure, it mostly associated with people who have been exposed to high levels of lead. For instance, people working in battery factories, metal smelters, and stained glass artists. Research shows that low level of lead exposure rarely causes kidney failure(Shleamoon, 1998). Immune system effects There is a relationship between lead and low immune system. People who get exposure to a lot of lead are believed to have low immune system compared to normal people. A lot of things can problems with the immune system, research has been done to find out if the lead is one of them. The findings came positive that indeed lead has some effects on immune system, especially in children. These are only possible if the lead in the level of ten micrograms per deciliter. These shows that only people with high level of lead in their body can have an immune system problem. Hematologic effect Hematologic effect is a way that the red blood cells are a story and its effect increased with increased in dose. Lead is believed to destroy the red blood cells with increased level of concentration. It prevents the body from making hemoglobin hence causing anemia. Acute lead level causes hemolytic anemia, while chronic level lead causes anemia by interfering of heme biosynthesis and by reducing red blood cells. Reproductive and development effect Reproductive effect consists of the sperm count, fertility, and the pregnancy outcome. Lead at low exposure level can cause low sperm count and increase abnormal sperm frequencies.Long term exposure can cause reduce sperm concentration, low sperm count, and total sperm motility. There is no exact time that time effect can last after one gets exposed. Research as also shown that women who get lead exposure might have a problem conceiving. And after conceiving, there is a very high chance that the lead will be passed to the unborn baby. Research as also shown that women with low level of lead in their bodies are prone to have frequency miscarriages compared to those with a high level of lead. Cancer Lead as been found to be a probable cause of cancer. A lot of experiment have been done using animals to find out; the result came out positive. Research about cancer was also done in a place where people are exposed to lead and the area where there is no lead exposure to prove this. Although there may be other causes of cancer that affect those people, the data showed that the population who are exposed to cancer have a high reported cases of cancer. It has ben found to cause mainly stomach and lung cancer. More research should be conducted to find out how lead cause cancer or which compound in it causes cancer. Risk management's strategies There is a need to put more effort in reducing environmental lead exposure in Australia, mainly the national policies of lead levels in the environment (JM., 1990). Finding and removing the source One of the most effective strategies that the country should do is to search for and remove the lead source. For instance, when a group of people or an individual is found to have lead poison then the source should be established to prevent other people getting exposure to it. Education Education a way of making a lot of people aware of the risks of it and how to prevent it. The public should be educated about the lead exposure and how to avoid it. When the public is aware of it, manage it will be easier. A lot of people who get expose to the lead without knowing due to lack of awareness. National policies The government should put rule and regulations that will reduce the lead exposure to the environment. These are by banning lead products or by reducing the lead in a product; these will reduce the level of exposure. If the products can be manufactured using other things then should be avoided completely. Gaps in current scientific knowledge These research tries to relate the lead compounds and cancer; most research fails to address the fact that there is a relationship between the two. Cancer being serious disease researchers should acknowledge other causes other than the genetic. Cancer patients should be researched on to know if they have had lead exposure at some point in their lives. As these findings could prove the relationship between lead and cancer. There is also need to do more research on adults female who get exposed to lead and find a solution. The reason being that they transfer these lead to the unborn babies. Moreover, it will be hard to manage it if the coming generation will be born with the lead infection. Many types of research have concentrated on the children having lead in their blood, but they dont consider that their mother could have being infected them before birth. There are a lot of research gaps in lead exposure and should be addressed to be able to find a lasting solution. Epidemiological data Research as shown that the soil on Sydney are contaminated with a lot of metals one of them being lead. The reason might be due to the use of lead in the gasoline and the paints; the soil lead concentration is 15.5mg/kg. These shows that a lot of places in Sydney is a threat to children getting exposed to lead. These are because children can easily get in contact with the soil hence the lead is exposed to children. Apart from the soil, some bags collected in homes of people living their contained lead. These means that lead is not only in the exterior part but very close to the children to get exposed. Esperance is a remote town on the southern coast of Western Australia; that does a lot of farming. The town is very windy and has lead carbonate. They export lead as a foreign exchange earner, in 2007 a lot of birds died and after research, it was found out that it was due to lead poisoning. There was a lot of concern that the lead poisoning could have affected the people and after the test, the result came positive. The main route of exposure was inhalation and ingestion through contaminated water tanks. From the towns, we can see that lead exposure is available, but the rate of the exposure is different. Esperance town as a lot of exposure because of the place mine lead, moreover the people in that area take tank water, and the majority of them were found to have the lead poison. Sydney lead exposure is small because no factory is around that manufactures the lead. Children in both towns are at risk of getting lead exposure, but those from Esperance town are at a very high risk. The lead level of exposure of Esperance is extremely high compared to that of Sydney. Different Management of the Lead Poison Local level management Education and awareness a way of making a lot of people know the risks of it and how to prevent it. The public should be educated about the lead exposure and how to avoid it. When the public is aware of it, manage it will be easier. A lot of the people who get expose to the lead without knowing due to lack of awareness. The health sector is doing education and awareness to sensitize them about lead exposure. State-level management The states are also using education as a way of managing the lead exposure. Most states are avoiding the use of lead products. Some states that export the lead have been informed on how to avoid the lead poisoning. Most women are advised to avoid the mining site so that they dont have fertility and having lead in their bodies which may affect the unborn. National level management The government as put rule and regulations that will reduce the lead exposure to the environment. These are by banning lead products or by reducing the lead in a product; these will reduce the level of exposure. If the products can be manufactured using other things then should be avoided completely. For instance, the gasoline which used to have lead has been banned. The government has also helped the lead exposure reduction by banning importation of products containing the lead components. A lot of lead containing products have been imported since the country dont manufactre products containing lead content. For instance the imported toys some have lead components. The government also ensures that the lead products are desposed in safe way.For instance the batteries should be recycled instead of disposing. These will ensure that the dont end up in the soil and cause more harm to the environment. Lead from the batteries if dumped in the environment they will enter into the plants and when ingested the lead will be in the body. Global level management On the global scale, the world health organization has done much to create awareness globally about the effects of lead exposure. It also informs the member states to protect workers, children, and women of reproductive age. These because they are ones who are exposed to lead and affected a lot (Fu H, 1995). WHO has continue to advocate the need to avoid leaded paints since its the main source of lead in the body through inhalation. The majority of the countries have banned the use of leaded paints in their countries. They work with the United Nations Environment program they work as an alliance to ensure that lead exposure is controlled. WHO has further put a lot of information online on their website about the lead. They upload information on the risks, how to prevent and the route sources of lead exposure. References American academy of pediatrics committee on drugs, (1995). Treatment guidelines for lead exposure in children. Aub, J. (1926). Lead poisoning. Baltimore: The Williams Wilkins Company. Boffetta, F. (1995). Cancer and occupational exposure to inorganic lead compounds. C, N. (2009). blood lead levels for Australians : An information paper foe practitioners and policy makers. Gemmel, T. and S.E, A. (2002). Blood lead level and dental caries in school-age children. 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