Ask Judge Mathis

Two leading government healthcare agencies recently presented differing opinions on the effects swine flu is likely to have this fall. One group believes it will lead to up to 90,000 deaths. The other thinks the number will be much lower. The confusion and different viewpoints aside, swine flu is a serious illness and we must work to control its spread.

The President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology released a report that says that over 50 percent of the population will contract swine flu this season, with up to 1.8 million ending up in the hospital for treatment and up to 90,000 actually dying from the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most respected health agency in the country – if not the world – doesn’t see such a scenario playing out. While the group withheld from stating numbers, they did say that recent statistics show any outbreaks of swine flu will be much milder than the President’s Council reported.

Swine flu is a respiratory infection that is caused by a type of influenza viruses. The outbreak of what is called swine flu involves a new strain that’s a combination of swine, bird and human influenza viruses. It can spread from human to human.  Based on its wide spread, the World Health Organization has declared the 2009 outbreak of swine flu a global pandemic.

Even though leading agencies differ on just how serious this year’s infections will be it is important that we all work to keep ourselves healthy and to stop the spread of swine flu. Following basic sanitary rules and common sense will go a long way in ensuring the disease doesn’t reach pandemic proportions this flu season.  Washing hands thoroughly and often, with soap and water using a hand sanitizer is key. Flu viruses can survive for two hours or longer on surfaces such as doorknobs.  If you do feel sick, stay home.

If you are infected with swine flu, you can give it to others starting 24 hours before you develop symptoms and for up to seven days later.  Anyone with flu-like illness should avoid other people until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever. People who work or live in spaces where there are lots of people – such as a dorm – should take extra precautions to ensure they remain healthy.

It is unfortunate that government agencies are unable to clearly estimate just how serious swine flu will be this season. But we must not let the confusion deter us from taking our health – and the health of others – seriously. Our efforts can go a long way toward preventing and outbreak.

Family doctors work to keep adult and children healthy and away from the emergency room, controlling medical costs for families and the government alike. Yet, lost in currently heated healthcare policy discussion is the fact that there is real a shortage of family care, or primary physicians, in this country. If this issue isn’t addressed, the more than 40 million people the Obama administration intends to extend coverage to through its healthcare plan are unlikely to have a doctor available to treat them.

There are about 100,000 family physicians, which include primary care doctors and general pediatricians, in the U.S. healthcare system. In the next ten years, we will need close to 140,000 family doctors but are currently only attracting half of that number.  According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the number of medical school graduates entering this field has dropped over 51% in the last two decades. There are many reasons for this: the lower pay, longer days and less prestige key among them.

The country is spending quite a bit of time discussing health care and reforming the current system. If we are to truly revamp the way health care is administered in this country, we must consider all of the needs of the patients…and that includes producing qualified doctors who can serve them.

Congress should contemplate legislation that provides incentives for those who choose to become primary care physicians. Forgiving a portion of student loans for those who do is a good start. The average medical school grad owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans. Providing government funded salary increases in another option. Family care physicians typically earn less than half that of a highly specialized doctor. Along the same lines, tax breaks for family care doctors, increasing the money they take home, could also be used as an incentive.

If something isn’t done, the AAFP predicts a shortage of 40,000 family physicians by 2010. We will see longer lines in doctor’s offices and more people using the emergency room for basic care, increasing medical costs for everyone and defeating the purpose of the healthcare plan the Obama administration is working to pass.