Global Health Trends and the Fight against Emerging Infectious Diseases
Over the last several decades, impressive strides have been taken against emerging infectious diseases. We have reduced rates of child mortality while eliminating some infectious diseases entirely or significantly decreasing their prevalence through vaccine access, better sanitation, and improved diagnostic capabilities.
Humanity’s success and scientific advancement are testaments to both of their strength. But global change has brought with it new risks: risking the emergence of new pathogens, spreading long-term infections or even globalizing other diseases.
Recent increases in global travel and trade of food and goods has increased the potential for infectious disease outbreaks with associated economic costs, while growing world populations and urbanization increases this risk even further.
Though progress against infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases has been significant, many countries remain severely burdened by infections that cause death and disease burden. Recent events such as rapid development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination as well as 2013-2016 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa and ongoing Zika pandemic illustrate this need for continued innovations in diagnostics, vaccination and other preventative measures against infectious diseases.
Antimicrobial resistance poses an additional threat to treating infections effectively, often due to improper usage of antibiotics and medicines in developing nations where access to quality healthcare may be limited. Drug-resistant bacteria have been linked with poor use of drugs like antibiotics.
At the same time, global environment changes continue to impact infectious disease emergence and transmission, including fluctuations in air pollution levels, climate conditions and planetary ecology. Demographic shifts such as increased urbanization or population density changes may also have an impact on epidemiological trends; influenza outbreaks tend to occur more frequently in densely populated areas.
The global community must redouble efforts to promote adequate investments in research and disease response worldwide, including increasing US investments in HIV, TB, and AIDS prevention and response activities and vaccine development. Physician scientists must also work to ensure their voices are heard when creating global and national policies and implementing global health initiatives. IDSA remains committed to being an influential voice for these priorities, such as pushing for increased US funding of infectious disease response and research programs globally, as well as including medical students as key participants in global health initiatives. At the same time, it must continue advocating for the creation of a multidisciplinary global technical council on infectious disease threats, with an emphasis on emerging and reemerging infections. Such a council could serve to strengthen global health system by improving collaboration and coordination, filling knowledge gaps, and making high-level recommendations.
