European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Feeding children caught in conflict keeps them from also becoming victims of disease and malnourishment which kill at least 10 million children under age 5 each year in the third world. Children Are Given a Chance at life in this red Cross Center on an Island off East timor annexed by Indonesia in 1976. Trying to control global disease third world afflictions National geographic w Hen global disease doctor discuss the prognosis Lor their most vulnerable patients the people of the third world they worry about. Another killer epidemic the next aids silently lurking somewhere in the tropics the elects of environmental changes such As global warming on the spread of Mosquito borne infectious diseases such As malaria the Impact of uncontrolled urbanization on health As Africa s Urban population More than doubles in the last two decades of this Century prevalence of chronic diseases notably heart ailments and cancer in the third world As the Gap Between developed and undeveloped nations Narrows. With the exception of aids for which there s no cure on the near horizon most current third world diseases Don i have to exist says or Stanley i music of the centers for disease control cd in Atlanta they exist because the medical technology and economic resources that can prevent or treat them Are not reaching those afflicted. A comprehensive assessment of the global disease toll released by the world health More than 1 billion people about 20 percent of the world s population Are sick or malnourished the situation is most severe in sub saharan Africa and South and East Asia where at least 30 to 40 percent of the people Are afflicted it is acute in South and Central America North Africa and the Middle East. Today s leading killers according to the who report Are diarrhoeal diseases acute respiratory infections tuberculosis malaria and such vaccine preventable diseases As polio tetanus measles and diphtheria. At least 10 million children under age 5 die each year. The chances of an infant s reaching 5 years Are Grimm est Only about 65 percent m places such As Cambodia. Laos Liberia. Sierra Leone. Guinea and Sudan says or Joe h Davis of the cd s International health program the rapid spread of the aids virus across Central Africa threatens both children and adults because an estimated 25 to 40 percent of babies born to infected mothers will be infected. Davis tells National geographic who estimates that 5 million to 10 million people worldwide Are already infected with the virus that produces acquired immune deficiency syndrome More than half of these probably will develop aids within 10 years. Most will die As Many As 24 million More Are liable to get the virus during the 1990s the aids epidemic caught global epidemiologists off guard. The aids virus coexisted harmlessly with humans for years there have to be More Nasty surprises out there viruses that humans Are now living with that will turn out to be lethal Davis warms besides the unexpected epidemiologists worry about How certain environmental changes will affect Exi aim Utah Yaeg a a Tuituu i it Quai o potentially one with a certain peril because mosquitoes multiply better in warmer conditions and parasites in mosquitoes multiply better the warmer the says or. Joel g Breman a cd malaria specialist worldwide the malaria Outlook has i improved much in the past 15 years malaria strikes an estimated 100 million people each year and kills 500,000 to 1 million mostly children the fight against the disease has been slowed because mosquitoes have developed a resistance to some insecticides and some malaria parasites have become immune to certain drugs it would be presumptuous to say that we can eradicate malaria Breman says with cities in the developing world growing so last Urban malaria is going to be a problem in Africa particularly " by 2000. Less developed countries will have twice As Many people living in cities and towns As do industrialized countries epidemiologists Are concerned about the availability of uncontaminated water the disposal of human wastes and the severity of pollution in the future As third world countries become More industrialized As infectious diseases Are controlled and life expectancy increases people in developing countries will die from More of the chronic diseases that people m developed countries do now cancer heart lung says epidemiologist Jack Woodall of who Headquarters m Geneva. Switzerland the Good news he says is that polio will be eliminated from the world by 2000 and measles by 2025 the last disease to be eradicated was smallpox m 1977 the next one will be Guinea worm by 1995 rarely fatal it temporarily cripples and can a tart Tiki a my a
