Global Health Issues

Global health issues is a broad term used to describe a host of diseases and disorders that affect large populations across the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors many of these issues and suggests best practices for managing such illnesses and conditions as AIDS, influenza, Ebola (EE-bol-ah) virus disease, bioterrorism, and malnutrition.

In 2014, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease *

What Are Global Health Issues?

• Kuru (KOO-roo) is a rare and fatal infectious disease of the nervous system. It is classified in the infectious disease category of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies * (TSEs), also called prion diseases * .
• Lassa fever is a hemorrhagic fever caused by a virus that was first identified in 1969. It primarily affects countries in western Africa, with about 300,000 to 500,000 cases and 5,000 deaths each year. About 80 percent of cases have only very mild symptoms (headache and a low-grade fever). In the other 20 percent, however, patients become acutely ill, with symptoms affecting the digestive tract, the nervous system, the heart, and the lungs. The symptoms of a severe case of Lassa fever are similar to those of malaria and Ebola.
• Leprosy, also called Hansen's disease, is a bacterial infection that can spread from one person to another by sneezing or coughing. The droplets in the air contain bacteria from the diseased person. A person who breathes in those droplets may get the disease, although leprosy is not highly contagious and usually requires repeated exposures to the bacterium that causes the disease. It is a rare disease that is easily treated with antibiotics. Leprosy mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the upper respiratory tract (trachea and bronchi), and the eyes. Since the development of antibiotics *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  A hand with an active cutaneous lesion, which was determined to be tuberculoid leprosy, or Hansen's disease.

  CDC/Dr. Andre J. Lebrun.

  What Are the Causes of Global Health Issues?

  Many diseases that are of global concern are related to socioeconomic inequities within and between nations. Factors that affect the incidence of disease around the world include poverty; lack of education; lack of healthcare resources; inequities between men and women; inadequate housing; and such environmental factors as water pollution * , air pollution * , and desertification, which refers to regions with little rainfall turning into deserts as the result of overpopulation.

  * and is transmitted by the bite of infected female Phlebotominae sand flies.
• Sleeping sickness is caused by transmission of the parasite Trypa-nosoma brucei in the bite of the tsetse fly, which is found only in rural Africa. There are two different species of the parasite that can cause the disease: In West African sleeping sickness, the parasite is Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, and in East African sleeping sickness, the parasite is Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. Although most cases of sleeping sickness are caused by the direct bite of the tsetse fly, it is possible for an infected woman who is pregnant to pass on the disease to her unborn child.

Who Is at Risk of Global Health Issues?

• Kuru. People at risk of kuru are those who eat human brain tissue. Kuru was originally identified as a disease among cannibals (people who eat the bodies of other humans) of New Guinea.
• Lassa fever. People at high risk of contracting Lassa fever are those who live in or travel to Nigeria, Liberia, Benin, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, and Guinea. Healthcare workers and those who have close personal contact with infected people in these countries are at highest risk.
• Leprosy. People who are at risk of leprosy are those who live in countries where the disease is widespread and those who are in close contact with someone who is infected and has not been treated.
• Leishmaniasis. People living in tropical climates are at greatest risk of leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis is more common in rural than in urban areas. The World Health Organization has identified several general factors associated with leishmaniasis; these are poverty, malnutrition, migration of nonimmune people, environmental changes, and overpopulation.
• Sleeping sickness. The major risk factor for sleeping sickness is living in the parts of Africa where the tsetse fly that transmits the disease is found. Travelers to the affected countries in Africa are also at risk.

What Are the Signs of Global Health Issues?

How Do Doctors Diagnose and Treat Global Health Issues?

• There is no treatment for kuru.
• Lassa fever can be treated with ribavirin, an antiviral drug that prevents the virus from replicating (making new copies of itself). The patient must be placed in isolation, with his or her body fluids and feces properly disposed of. Fluid replacement therapy and blood transfusions are also often necessary. Pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy must have their labor induced immediately to save the mother's life, although the fetus has only a 10 percent chance of survival.
• Leprosy is easily treated. Treatment consists of multiple-drug therapy (MDT) with a combination of antibiotics for a period of six months to two years.
• The skin sores of leishmaniasis usually heal on their own. To prevent long-term effects, the recommended treatment for leishmaniasis includes strong antibiotics and a medication called antimony.
• Treatment for sleeping sickness consists of a course of several antibiotics used in combination.

Can Global Health Issues Be Prevented?

• Kuru can be prevented by not eating human brain tissue.
• Lassa fever can be prevented by keeping the Natal mouse out of houses and food supplies. Although complete control of the local mouse population was not possible as of 2016, most countries in West Africa have set up public education campaigns to warn people against eating, touching, or playing with mice. Healthcare workers are advised to wear gloves, masks, goggles, and other protective clothing when treating people infected with Lassa fever. A vaccine against Lassa fever has been developed but was still undergoing clinical trials as of 2016.
• Leprosy is easily prevented. Once the person who has leprosy is being treated, they are no longer contagious.
• Leishmaniasis can be prevented by strategies that prevent sandflies from biting the body. These strategies include staying indoors from dusk to dawn when sandflies are most active; covering all exposed areas of the body when outside by wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts; using insect repellent; placing nets over the bed and tucked in around the bed; spraying insecticides (sprays that kill insects) in living and sleeping areas; and installing screens on all windows and doors.
• Sleeping sickness can be prevented by strategies that prevent the tsetse fly from biting the body. These strategies include covering all exposed areas of the body when outside by wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts that are neutral in color (tsetse flies are attracted to bright or dark colors); using insect repellent; and avoiding bushy areas where tsetse flies live.

* Ebola virus disease (formerly referred to as Ebola hemorrhagic fever) is a communicable disease caused by a virus that causes severe bleeding, organ failure, and death.

* AIDS (or Acquired Immunodeficiency [ih-myoo-no-dih-FIH-shen-see] Syndrome) is an infection that severely weakens the immune system; it is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

* influenza (IN-floo-EN-zuh) is a contagious viral infection that attacks the respiratory tract, including the nose, throat, and lungs. Also known as the flu.

* plague (PLAYG) is a serious bacterial infection that is spread to humans by infected rodents and their fleas.

* encephalopathy is any disease of the brain; encephalo comes from the Greek word for brain and pathy comes from the Greek word for disease.

* prion (PREE-on) diseases are rare diseases that cause degeneration of the neuromuscular system in humans and animals. Also called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).

* antibiotic (AN-tie-by-AH-tik) is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria.

* water pollution is contamination of the natural water supply including lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, and ground water by chemical, physical, radioactive, or pathogenic (disease-causing) microbial substances.

* air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gases in the air; can be natural or human-made.

* parasite (PAIR-uh-site) is an organism such as protozoa (onecelled animals), worms, or insects that must live on or inside a human or other organism to survive. An animal or plant harboring a parasite is called its host. Parasites live at the expense of the host and may cause illness. The adjectival form is parasitic.

* paralysis (pah-RAHL-uh-sis) is the loss or impairment of the ability to move some part of the body.

* biopsy (BI-op-see) is a test in which a small sample of skin or other body tissue is removed and examined for signs of disease.