Communicable diseases

Over 90 per cent of the world's disease burden occurs in developing countries and most is due to communicable diseases. While chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, are on the rise, communicable disease remains the major challenge. HIV and AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis are important communicable diseases targeted by global control programmes. However, the emphasis on these three epidemics now threatens to undermine efforts of proven efficacy for the control of other diseases that affect developing countries, by diverting attention and resources away from them.

A review of communicable diseases in developing countries is a study in inequity. Children bear the greatest burden. Many of the child survival gains achieved in the 1980s have either stagnated or reversed. Most of those affected come from impoverished settings where they are most likely to be malnourished and least likely to know about life-saving interventions, where to find them, or have the means to obtain them. Traditional values and behaviours untempered by adequate information or meaningful dialogue with the public health community conspire to compound these inequalities. Two diseases - pneumonia and diarrhoea - cause most of the mortality.

The public health community has challenged itself to respond and redress this inequality. The sampled readings in this section of the website outline the dimensions of the challenge, while providing links to additional resources for further information and suggested avenues of collaborative action.