Keep a watchful eye on old diseases we thought we had mostly conquered-and potentially many new ones.
Says the World Health Organization in its 1996 report, "The world is facing a crisis over infectious diseases which kill at least 17 million people a year." These maladies include cholera, pneumonia, typhoid, malaria, hepatitis and AIDS. A growing resistance to drugs is a big part of the problem.
A disturbing factor is our global response to 20th-century diseases. According to an article in The Independent: "Despite the emergence of some 30 new diseases in the last 20 years, there is still a lack of national and international political will and resources to develop and support the systems necessary to detect them and stop their spread. Without doubt, diseases as yet unknown, but with the potential to be the AIDS of tomorrow, lurk in the shadows."
Remember that disease epidemics are represented by one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as recorded in the Bible. (Sources: The Independent, The Times of London.)
