Winning and losing the fight against infectious diseases

Presenter: Christopher Dye

Published: September 2013

Age: 14-19 and upwards

Views: 1407 views

Tags: disease;infection;resistance;drug;bacteria;virus

Type: Lectures

Source/institution: Royal Society

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Human infectious diseases will be eliminated and replaced by chronic ÒlifestyleÓ diseases as fertility falls, life expectancy increases, and populations grow older and wealthier. This is the standard story of the epidemiologic transition, but it isnÕt turning out as we imagined. Although longevity is increasing almost everywhere, the global burden of AIDS, diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis and other fatal diseases remains enormous. As we approach the 2015 deadline for achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals, this lecture will reflect on which infections have been and can be controlled, and which ones will continue to plague us in the coming decades. Christopher Dye FRS is Director of Health Information at the World Health Organization and Visiting Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford.