World Health Day PROGRESS TOWARDS CONQUERING DISEASE

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28554, 7 April 1958, Page 10

World Health Day PROGRESS TOWARDS CONQUERING DISEASE

[BW

Dr.

H. van ZILE HYDE.

. chief of the Dividon ef latemanonal

Health. United States Pvbiic Hra.tn Imnc*.'

The 10 years just past have demonstrated that man now nas cat his command the knowledge !and The win to eliminate infectious ■ disease from the world. The accomplishment thus far is great; i the promise greater. The story of infectious disease goes bacK to the beginning of man's life on earth. The bones of children in the earliest graves and the mummies of ancient Egypt testify to the age-old struggle between man and infectious disease. The course of history has often been -changed abruptly by mysterious ; epidemics sweeping over grea: areas of the earth —the Black Death of the Middle Ages, typhus and influenza in our own times. Every adult among us has suffered repeatedly from infectious disease and will again. Millions* upon millions of persons over the globe are weakened even todav j by persistent chronic infectious disease. This is the past and the present but it need not and will not be the future. Diseases That'Are PimpprarinT ; The roots of man's impending triumph over infectious disease f reach back 100 years. Then if was that man learned that most of the diseases with which ne was familiar are caused by living organisms so small that they are* invisible to the unaided eye. Then, quite rapidly, he developed means for destroying these organisms, through antisepsis: for interrupt-, ing their growth and spread." through sanitation: for building | internal defences against them, through nutrition and immunisa-, tion: and for destroying them by - medical treatment even after they j. had infected him. In those limited areas of the» j world in w’hich it has been possible to apply this knowledge. intensively, much of the burden* lof infectious disease has nowbeen lifted. In such areas, the public has fully forgotten the, terrors of the past—cholera, i plague, : smallpox, and yellow fever. Parents no longer fear most of the communicable diseases commonly maociated with childhood—measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough. If they ' occur at all in these favoured •areas, they rarelv kill Malaria has been eradicated, tuberculosis is fast disappearing, and very recently there has been, major advance against polio-" myelitis. The list of triumphs is a long) one. However, the respiratorv in feet ions—the common cold influenza, and pneumonia—are still widely prevalent. There is grow-, ing evidence that these and similar infections that are still widespread will eventually be under control. All that may be; 1 needed in some cases is more ! intensive laboratory research to fill gaps of knowledge already at hand. Spreading Knowledge Thousands of projects applying modern control methods have been carried out in the jungles, over ? the deserts, in the great and J crowded cities, on-every continent! tand in every country. From this' vast experience it has been learned. that the available methods can .bring about control under conditions found anywhere, if skilfullv adapted and energetically used. Disease-carrying insects have been eradicated in the valleys, on the mountains, along the , shores: injections of penicillin. 1 vaccinations aeainst smallpox, tuberculosis and other diseases have been given to hundreds of millions of persons, even in the remotest and in the most squalid corners of the earth. This experience has given rise to the ex- 1 pectation of eradication. The nations of the world a.-e indeed now pledged to work together to bring about the complete eradication of malaria from the ; earth in the next 10 years. It lis expected that eradication of other diseases will follow. This —the extension of knowledge and action from the few to the many j—is the significance of the List 10 years of health progress. This is the hope and promise that it -’has brought. The stage that has been reached thus far in the conquest of infectious disease has not come about by luck but by hard work and effective organisation. In the process, hundreds of research centres have been developed: millions of health workers have been trained: hospitals and health centres have been built both in cities and in remote areas: people have formed voluntary organisations to combat sickness through joint action: and governments ' throughout the world have created national and local health services that increasingly help all peoples po gain health. New Problems But the total needs are still very far from being met. Much more growth and extension are urgently reeded in order that al! may have the degree of protecI tion that is available to an in--1 creasing but yet far too sm-%11 ! segment of mankind. Moreover .the mass control of infectious disease does not solve all health f problems nor end disease. As the control of infectious disease advances other problems and . diseases take on new tmportante. Since infection ter.ds to kill earl" in life, its widespread conTui : means that more people survive i into the older age-groups. This creates problems in prov:dznz employment and care for ever larger numbers of elderly people I: means, too. that the non-infec-tious diseases that are associated with later years become morecommon and prominent—heart ’disease, cancer, diabetes, arteriof sclerotsis- ’ Stresses that Aeesmpany Prsgres# s Our ability to control infectious disease has been attained in a i. period of history marked by wide - and intensive scientific and techg nical progress, accent pan :ed by 9 profound social change. New ? stresses have been created that lead sometimes suddenly and at r other times more slowly to disease and premature death. These new L and increased stresses take three basic forms—chemical, physical, and social. Development has beer sn rapid that the true nature anc effect of many of these stress?* remain thus far a mystery. Mar j must new deal increasingly witi

these problem as be his mastery of jnfectioqi "disease. The chemicaltftresoes to whicn we are exposed are legion, ard mounting rapidly Thousands of industrial plants dseharge chemical wastes into he rivers and streams that provhb eur dranki-.c water. Hundreds ’of ebemtrals that have not be 4 adequsi- - tested for their effect on man ire added to food to preserve, colour, and flavour it. More than 1000 mfllpn pounds of chemical insecticides are used annually in the world h the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, exposing millions of wo-kers to the effect* of these cirmicals Some 3.000.000 pounds o( gases are discharged into the ar of a single large American eity each • day by motor vehicles and-wki»-Chemical MH—a . Man takes huge amo-mti of inorganic chemical* in self-m»df-cation. Each year there are reduced in one country alone 900 r fl pounds of a single sleeping dng land over 00.000 pounds of m awakener. as well as 14.000.C45 , pounds of aspirin—enough t» make 19 billion five-gram tablets More recently people who do not ,appear to be’ happy either asleep or entirely awake are taking" i tranquil! isir.g drugs to keep them ’in between. How dangerous is this chemical miasma? It is only possible to give partial answers. There are I studies that suggest a possible relationship between minute traces of certain of the metals that occur in food and heart disease and 'high blood pressure. Other research suggests that fats in food 'may be related to these diseases. f More than 300 different chemicals ' are known to produce cancer in animals. There is evidence that S cigarette wonk* may eontrftkrfe to the development of lung cancer in man. Polluted air has killed people ,in London and in an American : town. These facts indicate something of the problem in the chemical sphere that emerges as infectious disease recedes. The physical environment is creating new hazards a* industry becomes more concentrated, as greater speeds are attained in the air and on the highways, and as new sources cf energy develop. Acriden-.s—per-ticularly motor-car accident*— ire femerging in HlSrty emmtnas as |one of the leading causes off death Rehabilitation <rf those wt>o have been injured is becoming a major pubtie health aethrfiF. , Mechanisatton and Ants ssgtipn In pace with the technical developments that give rise to inkcreaaed chemical and pfapM threats, the social environment is becoming progressively more complex. The machines and insti- , tution* created to increase pro- , ! duction and facilitate distribution .lead to new stresses. The agriepj- > turist—the erstwffiile peasant, the ; farmer, the fellaheen —no longer sustains himself and bis family (alone in an isolated environment Today he is increasingly part of ran organised community in which be competes and makes his contribution to economic and social progress. He is joining co-opera-tives, sometimes driving tractors, and even in some placer motorcars. and educating |hi» children so that they compete effectively in today’s society. In this rush of progress, man must learn to live with man. The strain is producing its toD. In certain of the highly industrialised countries as many as half of the total available hospital beds are occupied by peroor.s with I mental disease, many of whom are victims of this intense social ■ stress. This provides a crude measure of the scope of the problem. As we look backwards, we see that over the years min has made great strides in understanding and controlling infectious disease and in building the organisation, as well as developing the personnel, that are needed to accomplish world-wide control. lacreasingly. babies are now bora to live, not to die. Increasingly, they can expect long life to the full span of three score years aid ten In j the last 10 years this greet new . promise has reached out to become a reality to ever more millions of our fellow men. But we still see as well hundreds upon hundreds of millions of persons unnecessarily sick, millions dying when they need not do ?o. The , > last 10 years of health progress have clearly demonstrated that ’man has in his hands toals that can change the world, bringing to ’all men new vigour, health, and hope. The future is bright, if the tools are used fully and forcefully and everywhere.