InterPress News Service (IPS); 3 April 1997
Gustavo Capdevila

The communicable diseases, which respect no frontiers, constitute a threat which needs urgent attention through joint world efforts to combat them, said Director General of the World Health Organsiation (WHO), Hiroshi Nakajima.

In a message released prior to World Health Day on April 7, Nakajima said it was unfortunate that international society had given up the war on infectious diseases for won.

This triumphalism was based on the fact that it appeared the means with which to fight these illnesses was already available, or about to be discovered.

The disproportionate overestimation was born of the spectacular advances made against smallpox - which has been totally erradicated - and another six illnesses which will disappear in the near future.

The optimism bred a feeling of security which has encouraged the propagation of a great many illnesses at an alarming rate.

Some serious conditions like malaria and tuberculosis have made a fatal return in many areas of the world, said Nakajima.

Following years of retreat, illnesses which threaten public health have reappeared in several countries, like the plague, diptheria, dengue fever, meningococcal meningitis, yellow fever and cholera.

But the outlook is even more serious considering the unprecedented appearance of hitherto unknown infectious diseases.

In the last 20 years, some 30 new diseases have reached the infectious level. For many of these, there is no treatment, cure or vaccine.

These illnesses include the virulent Ebola type haemorrhagic fever, hepatitis C and the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS).

Another threat to human health is formed by another phenomenon of the last 20 years, where certain organisms have developed immunity to antibiotics. There are also less new antibiotics being developed due to the high costs of developing and patenting these.

The lower efficiency in the treatment of transmissible diseases means the number of patients needing hospitalisation also increases. The length of the period of illness grows, the treatments become more expensive and school and work absenteeism increase.

Several elements contribute to the appearance of new illnesses and the resurgence of communicable illnesses.

The most important of these is the accelerated increase in the amount of international air travel and the expansion of mega- cities with high population density and inadecuate running water and sewerage systems.

Food related illnesses are increasing due to the globalisation of trade and changes in production, added to the handling and treatment of foodstuffs.

Environmental factors can also expose people to known diseases. The WHO cited the example of deforestation and the penetration of human beings into environments previously restricted to animals and insects, creating an elevated risk of infection.

Another widespread phenomenon, in both rich countries and poor, is the reduced public spending on health and the diversion of these funds to other ends.

In this panorama, the appearance of new illnesses, the return of known diseases and the development of resistence to antibiotics could go unseen until it is too late, predicted Nakajima.

A clear example of this was seen with HIV, which was only recognised when it had already infected a large number of people in various countries. (END/IPS/tra-so/pc/sm/97)

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