Sneak Peek at WiRED’s Upcoming Infectious Disease Program

BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN

WiRED International plans to launch its Infectious Disease Program in early July. The program’s purpose is to prepare communities to respond to infectious diseases such as Zika, Ebola, malaria, cholera and more than 40 others that plague populations across the planet. The program, which is unique and distinct from other health training efforts, will allow users to create a customized curriculum depending on their roles in a community and the diseases that may be threatening that community.

 

WiRED’s program will offer information that gives people within a community a common reference system, so leaders can talk amongst themselves and with the general population using the same terminology and key concepts. The program will enable a community to prepare for a disease before an outbreak occurs.

 

The Infectious Disease Program will contain approximately 50 health training modules, with more to be added in the months to come. The program uses WiRED’s special learning reinforcement strategy, with quizzes and key point restatements. The courses offer detailed descriptions of various infectious diseases and information about their prevention, diagnoses and treatment. Each training package also includes an entire module covering the means by which each disease is transmitted (e.g., air, water, food, animal to human, human to human and vector). Such information is critical in understanding how the disease is spread, and will lead to effective prevention measures.

 

The program will be distributed through WiRED’s global network and available online and for download. As with all WiRED’s materials, the Infectious Disease Program is free to everyone.

 

 


Funding and Source Material

The Infectious Disease Program is cost-free thanks to a generous grant from Medtronic Philanthropy and generous donations of time and money from WiRED’s supporters and volunteers.

 

All WiRED’s health education programs are written by medical professionals and based on trusted sources including the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, leading universities and other authoritative health institutions.