Most of the stories in today's newsletter are about infectious diseases. Now in South Africa, along with most other low to middle income countries, the top two causes of death are actually cardiovascular disease and stroke. But after that, the list is almost entirely to do with infectious diseases, with perinatal disease and road traffic accidents making up nine and ten. This means that we have a double burden of disease. Not only do we have to cope with the ongoing burden of illness and death from infectious diseases, but we have to start thinking about stemming the rise of non-communicable diseases. These are the chronic diseases of lifestyle - taking a huge toll on people's health, difficult to prevent and very expensive to manage effectively. The overall picture is one of a very high disease burden in countries that can least afford it. Infectious diseases result from poor infrastructure leading to poor hygeine, lack of access to health care facilities, poor uptake of vaccination programmes and a general lack of knowledge of prevention. The increase in the chronic diseases of lifestyle is a result of massive urbanisation and increasing uptake of a "Western" style of life - but without any of the benefits of such a lifestyle. In an atmosphere of increasing economic gloom and rising food and commodity prices, this is not good. We need resources to prevent disease and treat those who are already ill - shifting priorities is vital if the wellbeing of the country is to improve.
Bridget Farham Editor https://www.bizcommunity.com