Diseases in Third World Countries

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Diseases in Third World Countries

Nowadays, infectious diseases are responsible for more than 13 million

deaths a year; over the next hour alone, 1 500 people will die from an

infectious disease, and over half of them will be children under five.

In developing countries, one over two deaths is caused by an

infectious disease. In this essay I will talk about the main diseases

responsible for deaths in third world countries, what helps to

eradicate them and what are the obstacles to this eradication.

Most deaths from infectious diseases occur in developing countries,

where about one third of the population live with less than $1 a day,

where one third of the children are malnourished and one fifth are not

fully immunized by their first birthday. More than that, the cities in

some developing countries are growing very fast, causing problems with

unsafe water, poor sanitation and poverty. This creates a perfect

environment for the outbreaks of diseases. And in those areas,

children are less likely to be immunized against killer diseases and

parents are less likely to be able to pay for health care when they

get sick.

We know a lot of diseases responsible for deaths, but actually almost

90% of these deaths are caused by only a handful of six diseases (*):

pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, measles and diarrhoea. In

the past, they have caused important ravages, sometimes killing even

more people than wars. And nowadays, with all the vaccines, the

antibiotics and the great scientific progress, these diseases should

have been brought under control. But, in third world countries, they

continue to kill at an alarming rate.

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...present in

those countries. But I was also wrong because money alone would not be

enough to eradicate the diseases in the developing countries. To do

so, it is also necessary to help these countries in having a better

economic development and more education, keeping in mind their own

culture.

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(*) when nothing else is added, all the numbers and quotes come from

WHO's report on infectious diseases:

http://www.who.int/infectious-disease-report/index-rpt99.html

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Bibliography :

World Health Organization, WHO, www.who.org.

and more especially their report on infectious diseases:

http://www.who.int/infectious-disease-report/index-rpt99.html

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