Disease Prevention
Communicable Diseases
Communicable diseases pose a significant public health threat
worldwide. Health hazards typically associated with large
development projects are those relating to poor sanitation and
living conditions, sexual transmission and vector-borne infections.
Communicable diseases of most concern during the construction
phase due to labor mobility are sexually-transmitted diseases
(STDs), such as HIV/AIDS. Recognizing that no single measure
is likely to be effective in the long term, successful initiatives
typically involve a combination of behavioral and environmental
modifications.
Recommended interventions at the project level include94:
· Providing surveillance and active screening and treatment of
workers
· Preventing illness among workers in local communities by:
o Undertaking health awareness and education initiatives,
for example, by implementing an information strategy to
reinforce person-to-person counseling addressing
systemic factors that can influence individual behavior
as well as promoting individual protection, and
protecting others from infection, by encouraging condom
use
o Training health workers in disease treatment
o Conducting immunization programs for workers in local
communities to improve health and guard against
infection
o Providing health services
· Providing treatment through standard case management in
on-site or community health care facilities. Ensuring ready
94 Additional sources of information on disease prevention include IFC, 2006;
UNDP, 2000, 2003; Walley et al., 2000; Kindhauser, 2003; Heymann, 2004.
access to medical treatment, confidentiality and appropriate
care, particularly with respect to migrant workers
· Promoting collaboration with local authorities to enhance
access of workers families and the community to public
health services and promote immunization
Vector-Borne Diseases
Reducing the impact of vector-borne disease on the long-term
health of workers is best accomplished through implementation of
diverse interventions aimed at eliminating the factors that lead to
disease. Project sponsors, in close collaboration with community
health authorities, can implement an integrated control strategy for
mosquito and other arthropod-borne diseases that might involve:
· Prevention of larval and adult propagation through sanitary
improvements and elimination of breeding habitats close to
human settlements
· Elimination of unusable impounded water
· Increase in water velocity in natural and artificial channels
· Considering the application of residual insecticide to
dormitory walls
· Implementation of integrated vector control programs
· Promoting use of repellents, clothing, netting, and other
barriers to prevent insect bites
· Use of chemoprophylaxis drugs by non-immune workers and
collaborating with public health officials to help eradicate
disease reservoirs
· Monitoring and treatment of circulating and migrating
populations to prevent disease reservoir spread
· Collaboration and exchange of in-kind services with other
control programs in the project area to maximize beneficial
effects
· Educating project personnel and area residents on risks,
prevention, and available treatment
· Monitoring communities during high-risk seasons to detect
and treat cases
