Thinking Big
Abstract Despite the devastating pandemic of HIV/AIDS that erupted in the early 1980s, despite the failure to eradicate polio and the emergence of resistant forms of tuberculosis that came into focus in the 1990s, and despite newly emerging diseases like SARS in 2003 and the fearsome prospect of hum...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University PressNew York
2009
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335842.003.0020 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/45008670/book_3846_section_145350620.ag.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract Despite the devastating pandemic of HIV/AIDS that erupted in the early 1980s, despite the failure to eradicate polio and the emergence of resistant forms of tuberculosis that came into focus in the 1990s, and despite newly emerging diseases like SARS in 2003 and the fearsome prospect of human-to-human avian flu, it is nevertheless a time of some excitement over prospects for effective control of much of infectious disease. Funded by national and international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO); private foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and even popular entertainers, like Bono, large-scale new efforts are under way to address global killers like AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, among others. This “marvelous momentum” can be seen as part of a continuing effort from the time of Jenner on. Extrapolating from this, we “think big” in order to explore the notion of a comprehensive global effort. Five tracks are identified: 1) national and international organizations and the development of collective will; 2) epidemiologic and healthcare infrastructure; 3) scientific development; 4) religious, social, and cultural considerations; 5) legal and social protections for individuals and groups. |
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