Illnesses of global importance/Pandemics

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This page is under construction and edited by Peter Friedl EMBA09. In case of any questions/remarks, feel free to contact me

Description:

According the World Health Organization WHO, the 10 leading causes of death by broad income group for 2004 were:

Low-income countries Deaths in millions % of deaths

Lower respiratory infections 2.94 11.2 Coronary heart disease 2.47 9.4 Diarrhoeal diseases 1.81 6.9 HIV/AIDS 1.51 5.7 Stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases 1.48 5.6 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 0.94 3.6 Tuberculosis 0.91 3.5 Neonatal infections 0.90 3.4 Malaria 0.86 3.3 Prematurity and low birth weight 0.84 3.2

Middle-income countries Deaths in millions % of deaths Stroke and other cerebrovascular disease 3.47 14.2 Coronary heart disease 3.40 13.9 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 1.80 7.4 Lower respiratory infection 0.92 3.8 Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers 0.69 2.9 Road traffic accidents 0.67 2.8 Hypertensive heart disease 0.62 2.5 Stomach cancer 0.55 2.2 Tuberculosis 0.54 2.2 Diabetes mellitus 0.52 2.1

High-income countries Deaths in millions % of deaths Coronary heart disease 1.33 16.3 Stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases 0.76 9.3 Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers 0.48 5.9 Lower respiratory infections 0.31 3.8 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 0.29 3.5 Alzheimer and other dementias 0.28 3.4 Colon and rectum cancers 0.27 3.3 Diabetes mellitus 0.22 2.8 Breast cancer 0.16 2.0 Stomach cancer 0.14 1.8

World Deaths in millions % of deaths Coronary heart disease 7.20 12.2 Stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases 5.71 9.7 Lower respiratory infections 4.18 7.1 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 3.02 5.1 Diarrhoeal diseases 2.16 3.7 HIV/AIDS 2.04 3.5 Tuberculosis 1.46 2.5 Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers 1.32 2.3 Road traffic accidents 1.27 2.2 Prematurity and low birth weight 1.18 2.0


The World Health Organization WHO, characterises three conditions responsible for the start of a pandemic:

  • emergence of a disease new to a population;
  • agents infect humans, causing serious illness; and
  • agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.

A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious. That means that cancer, for example, is not classified as a pandemic as it is not infectious.

Enablers:

  • Changes in society and human demographics
  • Contamination of water supplies and food sources
  • Poor populaiton health (e.g. malnutrition)
  • International trade
  • International travel
  • Evolution of the pathogen
  • Failure of public health programs

Inhibitors:

Factors which weaken this driving force. (these are actually other driving forces, and you can link to them in the wiki!)

Paradigms:

Changes in ways of thinking about the world due to the driving force.

Experts:

  • World Health Organisation
  • European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Robert Koch Institut

Timing:

Current pandemics:

  • HIV / AIDS
  • Swine influenza (2009 influenza A/H1N1)


Important epidemics and pandemics through history:

  • Plague
  • Cholera
  • Typhus
  • Smallpox
  • Measles
  • Tuberculosis
  • Malaria
  • Yellow fever

Tuberculosis is still one of the most important health problems in the developing world.

Web Resources:

  • [1] WHO - World Health Organization
  • [2] ECDC - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
  • [3] CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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