World News and Trends: War allows deadly epidemic's return
Sleeping sickness, an ancient disease doctors once hoped to eradicate from Africa, is making a deadly return visit courtesy of the 15-year civil war in Sudan.
The disease is caused by a parasite spread through the bites of tsetse flies. The parasite multiplies in the blood and lymph nodes, bringing fever, pain and the debilitating weakness from which the disease gets its name. If untreated, the parasites can eventually infect the brain, leading to seizures, dementia and eventual death.
In the 1980s Belgian doctors in southwestern Sudan had managed to reduce the number of people infected with sleeping sickness to less than 1 percent of the populace. When civil war struck the country, the resulting breakdowns in civil order, transportation and communication forced Sudanese and international health workers out of more remote areas of the country. Fighting also forced refugees farther into the wilds and into neighboring countries.
When international-aid workers began returning to Sudan in recent years, they found the health-care system in complete collapse. With no medicines or medical personnel to keep it at bay, the deadly disease had regained lost ground to the point that workers estimate that from 20 to 40 percent of the population in some areas is infected.
Although the disease is curable, few people and governments can afford the cost for treatment-estimated at $300 to $600 per patient. Meanwhile, health officials worry that sleeping sickness is continuing its march into neighboring countries-specifically the Central African Republic and Congo (formerly Zaire)-which have suffered their own political upheavals and civil wars in recent years.
This tragic saga reminds us of the deadly connection between war, famine and disease described in Bible prophecies. (Sources: The New York Times, Matthew 24:6-7, Revelation 6:3-8.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: January - February 1998
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
