AIDS: new threat to the third world.
01 Jan 1988-Vol. 1, Iss: 1, pp 19-27
TL;DR: The extent of AIDS cases in LDCs is most likely underreported as these countries already have limited access to health care, and overall rate of transmission is likely to remain higher in the 3rd world for numerous reasons including the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases.
Abstract: Acquired immuneodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) threatens to have a catastrophic historical impact on the 3rd world undermining decades of progress toward improved health and sustained economic development. By 1986 the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate between 5 and 10 million people worldwide were carriers. By 1990 WHO projects 50 to 100 million may be infected leaving 15 to 30 million dead by 1995. The extent of AIDS cases in LDCs is most likely underreported as these countries already have limited access to health care. The infection rate could be 100 times higher in African cities than in the US as a whole. With an estimated 2 million infected Africa is the hardest hit region in the world; Asia is the least affected with Japan having the highest number of reported cases at 43. Overall rate of transmission is likely to remain higher in the 3rd world for numerous reasons including the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases lack of money to screen blood for transfusions high number of sexual partners due to socio-economic conditions chronic exposure to viral and parasitic infections and unhygienic conditions. Unlike developed nations LDCs do not have the health care budgets to care for the opportunistic infections of AIDS patients. Therefore they often are subject to triage passed over in favor of patients with curable diseases. AIDS provides an even greater threat as a multiplier of existing but dormant diseases such as tuberculosis. AIDS will undermine the decades of progress in maternal and child health and may soon be significant factor in the mother/child survival quotient. Some African cities report that 8 to 14% of women attending prenatal clinics test positive. Since it strikes the most productive age group--those between 20 and 49-- AIDS threatens to undermine the economies of LDCs at a time when most LDCsa are already struggling. Meeting the global challenge of AIDS will requre unprecedented international cooperation. The fact that both 1st and 3rd world countries must face the problem could lead to the necessary efforts.
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TL;DR: General research issues in sustainable agriculture are discussed and priorities in developing appropriate technology based on sound biological principles and laws of physics and mechanics for pest and weed control are suggested.
Abstract: The evolution of concepts and definitions of agricultural systems over time is presented. Inputs of an agricultural system are classified as components and activities. A component is either a resource or a technology. The activities are the management of resources and the application of technology in the production process. The outputs of a production process will include both the targeted product and the environmental impact. When these terms are used to describe an agricultural system graphically, the dynamic aspects of the system can easily be illustrated and problems associated with the system can be properly identified. Sustainable agriculture is recognized as conveying certain objectives or delineating certain requirements of an agricultural system, in terms of both the input and output of the system. These objectives are: (1) producing necessary quantity of high quality food and fiber; (2) profitable to the grower; (3) conserving nonrenewable resources; and (4) harmonious with biological, physical and social environments. These objectives have long-term implications and attempt to secure the future viability of agriculture. Therefore they embrace the concept of sustainability. The difficulty of constructing such a system is that not all the objectives are compatible; compromise or trade-offs among the objectives are often necessary in developing a workable sustainable system. Progress and improvement can always be made through research, but no perfect system can realistically be constructed. General research issues in sustainable agriculture are discussed. Priorities in developing appropriate technology based on sound biological principles and laws of physics and mechanics for pest and weed control are suggested.
35 citations
TL;DR: Deeper understanding of and increased attention to the economic, as well as social and cultural, parameters of the Sub-Saharan AIDS endemic is needed for the implementation of preventive measures.
Abstract: Within the rapidly progressing pandemic of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) Sub-Saharan Africa plays a disproportionally large role. The reported data indicate that heterosexual transmission is the predominant cause for the rapid spread in this, one of the world's poorest regions. Prostitution, though poorly understood in the African context, unstable family structure, lack of male circumcision, aversion to, and high cost of, condom use, and risky sexual behaviour, including multiple sexual contacts and partners, are causal and facilitating factors in the rapid spread of HIV infection. Virtually all of these factors are related to poverty. Education and information, which in the absence of an effective curative drug and/or vaccine, would be essential, is also a costly undertaking. Deeper understanding of and increased attention to the economic, as well as social and cultural, parameters of the Sub-Saharan AIDS endemic is needed for the implementation of preventive measures.
29 citations
TL;DR: This paper expands on Jonathan Mann's third wave of the AIDS pandemic: the epidemic of economic, social, political, and cultural reaction and response to the HIV infection and to AIDS, and suggests it is possible to approach AIDS much as the authors do natural and technological hazards.
19 citations
TL;DR: The present AIDS epidemic is placed in an ecological and evolutionary context of the disease in hominid evolution and the interaction between Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and human populations is considered.
Abstract: The evolution of infectious disease can be understood from an ecological model that incorporates information from anthropology, epidemiology, and biomedicine. This model considers variables such as the pathogen, the host population, and the environment. In this model, the role that culture as well as other environmental variables plays in the transmission of infectious disease in human populations is considered. In addition, the sociocultural response and its impact on the disease process can be analyzed. The present AIDS epidemic is placed in an ecological and evolutionary context of the disease in hominid evolution. The interaction between Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and human populations is considered in this perspective. The ability of the virus to survive in semen and blood both increases as well as limits the possibility of transmission. Cultural practices that increase the transmission of blood and semen or increase sexual activity will obviously increase the potential risk of viral transmission. In societies that practice exchange of blood, blood transfusion, and where vaccinations with unclean needles exist or where there is intravenous (IV) drug use, the transmission of HIV by blood is enhanced. HIV which can cause a breakdown of the immunological system is paradoxically a very fragile pathogen. Replication occurs within T-cells, an important part of the immunological system. Outside of the blood or semen the virus dies quickly. From the perspective of the pathogen's adaptation, the virus has effectively solved the problem of survival. The fragile virus's long incubation period and its ability to survive in the presence of antibodies help to assure its transmission. HIV's ability to suppress the immunological system may assure its immediate survival, but this adaptation may cause the death of its host from other opportunistic pathogens that are usually not lethal.
18 citations
Cites background from "AIDS: new threat to the third world..."
...As a result, in the United States the cultural environment of the homosexual community has evolved to incorporate this AIDS pandemic....
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...It is estimated that only thirty-five percent of the population is reached by modern health services (Heise, 1988)....
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...Many lack the diagnostic equipment and funds necessary for surveillance of the disease (Heise, 1988)....
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...Blood surveys measuring exposure to the virus confirm that HIV is more prevalent in urban areas of African countries than it is in the United States (Heise, 1988)....
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...Because the most sexually active sectors of the population are also those who are most economically productive, many countries risk losing a significant proportion of both whitecollar and blue-collar labor (Heise, 1988; Mann, 198713)....
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TL;DR: The World Health Organization (WHO) is in the best position to spearhead the global campaign against AIDS and has called for the integration of AIDS prevention activities into family planning programs.
Abstract: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) threatens to undermine the health status and economic development of Third World populations unless there is global cooperation to prevent the further spread of infection. Poor people in developing countries are considered to be at greatest risk of developing AIDS because their immune systems have been compromised by prior infections. The poor are further placed at risk by their lack of accessibility to health care services and information about AIDS. Despite a host of competing health problems (e.g. childhood diarrhea and malnutrition) and scarce funds for mass educational campaigns some Third World countries have launched government-sponsored prevention programs. Leaders in this area include Zambia Rwanda Uganda and Brazil. The fact the 90% of those with AIDS are in the economically productive age group (10-49 years) has serious implications for the future of Third World countries. In Zaire for example it has been projected that premature deaths from AIDS will reduce the gross national product by 8% in 1995. The World Health Organization (WHO) is in the best position to spearhead the global campaign against AIDS and has called for the integration of AIDS prevention activities into family planning programs. The USs withdrawal of financial support from family planning programs that provide abortion and its reduction in recent years in its contributions to the WHO general budget are unfortunate given the need for massive international assistance to stop the transmission of AIDS in developing countries.
6 citations