Word News and Trends: Drug-resistant malaria poses enormous threat
Malaria continues to spread as the third deadliest disease. Are we facing times when this disease will no longer be able to be cured?
Travelers to Southeast Asia run the risk of contracting malaria, a miserable disease that is becoming resistant to available drugs. The anti-malaria drug Artemisinin is becoming less and less effective in treating the disease. This could be incredibly devastating to dozens of countries and millions of people.
As Bloomberg News reports: "Malaria is becoming resistant to the most powerful drugs available in Southeast Asia, as the World Health Organization races to stop the spread of the strain that could be 'disastrous' for global malaria control" (Simeon Bennett, "Malaria Strain Resists Drugs, May Threaten Millions, Study Says," July 30, 2009).
The same article continues: "Treatments derived from artemisinin, the basis of the most effective anti-malaria drugs, took almost twice as long to clear the parasites that cause the disease in patients in western Cambodia as in patients in northwestern Thailand, according to a study published ... in the [July 30, 2009] New England Journal of Medicine.
"The delay in parasite clearance times shows the drugs are losing their power against the disease in Cambodia, the study said. The failure of artemisinin-based treatments would be 'disastrous' for global efforts aimed at curbing the death and disease wrought by the malady."
Malaria strikes about 250 million people each year and kills more than 880,000, making it the third-deadliest infectious disease behind AIDS and tuberculosis.
Most people assume that medical science will shield us from potential epidemics. But the fact is, we are far more vulnerable than we suppose. Jesus Christ warned that in the end time, the human race would increasingly suffer from "pestilences"— plagues and infectious diseases (Matthew 24:7). (Source: Bloomberg News.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: September - October 2009
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
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.
