Diseases in developed and developing countries

Is this real development?

by Josephine Ficola, LSP Assisi/Italy

I often see people who, when they hear about diseases in poor countries, are surprised that in those places people still die from infectious illnesses such as malaria and cholera. But I think that we should be more stunned that in our countries - which we call developed countries - non-infectious illnesses like cardiovascular diseases, cancer or diabetes kill more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Cardiovascular disorders are the leading causes of death in developed countries and we know that numerous aspects of our unhealthy lifestyle are great risk factors, such as the use of tobacco, physical inactivity, an unhealthy diet and alcohol consumption. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) tobacco smoking is “the biggest threat to health in the European Region" and only in Europe it kills about 700,000 people each year while every year 19,000 non-smoking Europeans die from exposure to secondhand smoke at home or at work.

The most shocking thing is that all the abovementioned factors are under one’s control. Therefore, these are decisions that can be made personally, which means that all of them are avoidable. This seems like a contradiction because on the one hand we think about development when we talk about medical breakthroughs such as vaccines, miracle cures or the invention of machines that help us live more easily but on the other hand if we don’t realize that most of our health problems are due to factors which could be avoided, our progress amounts to nothing.

But what is worse is that we are exporting these diseases related to an unhealthy lifestyle to developing countries. In fact, as the greatest and the best discoveries of our culture are reaching those countries, so do the bad habits of drinking, smoking and having a sedentary lifestyle. But while we are gradually realizing the dangers of such bad behavior, these countries don’t have the means to face it. Always according to the WHO, the 80% of smokers live in developing countries, and this is because such countries do not impose legal limits to the advertising and use of tobacco.

I think that the industrialized countries have an important role as they are an example for everyone else. This means that their main task is to export wellness and not diseases.

Posted 03.03.2017 16:02

A society of wellbeing for all

by Ilenia Pastorelli, LSP Assisi/Italy

The era we live in is often called the 'era of wellbeing'.

This statement can be considered true if we refer to the last few decades or to the most industrialized areas of the world, namely Northern and Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.

The developed part of the world is indeed improving more and more, especially at an economical level, regardless of whether or not it has to 'crush' the underdeveloped part of the world to reach its goals.

     Source: google imagine

But developing countries have another problem in addition to the lack of good, healthy food as well as of medicines and treatments. Indeed, severe diseases have halved the population in developing countries.

The most diffused diseases through Africa and Asia are mainly three: AIDS/HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

AIDS, i.e. acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is a very dangerous disease caused by the HI virus. It occurs when the immune defenses are so weakened by HIV that they are unable to protect the body even from harmless microorganisms. This disease is transmitted through sexual intercourse and blood. AIDS is therefore the final stage of the HIV and, if it isn’t treated, it leads to death. HIV, on the other hand, can be treated if it is caught in time.

According to the data reported by the World Health Organization, the number of people affected by AIDS in 2007 amounted to 2.1 million, while according to reports from UNICEF at the end of 2010 the number of the affected came to 1.8 million, which is an improvement, even though still a small one. Instead, the number of people living with HIV at the end of 2010 (still referring to UNICEF statistics) was around 34 million and that is not a small number.

Tuberculosis is a disease that is transmitted through air (saliva, sneezing or coughing) and, if it is not treated, it tends to interact dramatically with the HIV. The combination of the two infections is lethal because a disease accelerates the progression of the other. The number of deaths, as has been reported on the 2016 World TB Day is equal to one and a half million a year, which means 4,000 deaths a day.

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito and, according to UNICEF statistics, the number of people infected every day in poor countries goes from 350 to 500 million.The situation is not easy, because many families are so poor that even a simple mosquito net to protect children represents an unsustainable cost.

To defeat these diseases we should first of all eliminate or at least reduce poverty, increasing the economic resources of the less developed countries and promoting research into tropical diseases. In addition, most industrialized countries, instead of modernizing their infrastructures more and more, should take up the weight of the dramatic situation of these countries, supplying them with treatments and with the means of prevention necessary for their survival. But most of all we should defeat malnutrition, which has been going on for ages, since it is the main cause of the weakening of the body, and we should help improve health and hygienic conditions to ensure suitable life standards for everyone.

Posted 04.03.2017 12:34

Ebola beyond the health crisis

by Valentina Bagliani, LSP Assisi/Italy

Despite the fact that most affected countries were in west Africa, in 2014 Ebola stopped being a problem of this continent but rather became a global emergency.

The world felt threatened by the diffusion of this virus. The media spread the news about this disease and people worldwide were scared of the infection, scared of travelling and contracting Ebola as its diffusion could have started a pandemic.

Furthermore, Ebola was defined as a social and economic crisis: the USA and the UK engaged military forces and international organisations provided resources and funding for the involved countries.

In Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the disease broke out, there had been a civil war only 11 years before and a destructive civil conflict, respectively, so their economies were already weak.

The breaking of the Liberians with the rest of the world had thrown many families into economic despair.

Photo taken from ‘Pixabay’

The greatest part of Liberia’s inhabitants had not contracted Ebola but in spite of this they considered it a bane because of ruined harvests, closed mines and empty markets. Thankfully, in June 2016, the end of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone and in Liberia was declared: the chain of propagation of the virus had been interrupted.

Ebola is no longer an emergency and the risk of infection is now under control according to the media. The involved countries have now all the means and the necessary knowledge to be able to face possible new cases and then to hinder the diffusion of the virus in the event of a new alarm.

This shows, anyway, that what happens in one part of the world not only has an echo to another, but may become a real global danger.

Posted 04.03.2017 12:40

Diseases and environmental problems

by Leonardo Bonamente, LSP Assisi/Italy

Browsing on the Internet I have recently discovered the website of the WHO, World Health Organization, where I learnt about “Environment and health in developing countries”.

Environmental conditions are very often responsible for diseases and disability, particularly in developing countries and they are the main causes of death. Among the causes of death in developing countries are in fact malaria, an illness that kills most African children under the age of five, unsafe water, poor sanitation, urban air pollution generated by vehicles, industrial and agricultural production associated with excessive exposure to, and inappropriate use of, toxic chemicals and pesticides

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD) “the global output of chemicals in 2020 will be 85% higher than in 1995”. This factor, among others, has caused climate changes that have broken the balance of nature and of biodiversity and this could have heavy consequences.

This is the most important problem to solve: climate changes are caused by us and so it is our responsibility to try and find a solution to it.

The website goes on talking about the “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs) approved by the UN General Assembly in 2000: “Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation; achieve, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers; Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger; Reduce Child Mortality; Promote Gender Equality; Empower Women; Improve Maternal Health”.

This is the proof that there are already international agencies working towards a global improvement; however, the majority of people do not often pay attention to what the experts say about pollution, ignoring them instead. They do not understand that it is important to leave a clean planet to the next generation. The way to reduce pollution starts with information. What we have to do is get informed, dedicate time and attention to the environment, know more and act.

image taken from pixabay;  Posted 04.03.2017 12:49

Are diseases in developing countries different from the ones in developed countries?

by Noemi Alessandrelli Lesandrelli, LSP Assisi/Italy

Diseases in the developing world are changing, and that is not necessary a bad thing.

Some years ago, the most dangerous diseases in developing countries were infectious diseases like tuberculosis, AIDS, tetanus, and malaria. Today, while they are still threats that those countries encounter, they have a lower impact on the population.

In developed countries, on the other hand, the major causes of death are heart attacks, strokes and cancer, which are having today a bigger impact even in developing countries.