2/3/06

Disease: A larger killer than conflicts

Consider the following:
o One billion people lack access to health care systems
o About 11 million children under the age of 5 die from malnutrition and mostly preventable diseases, each year
o Almost 11 million people died of infectious diseases alone … far more than the number killed in the natural or man-made catastrophes that make headlines.

Re: AIDS/HIV, UNAIDS estimates for 2005 that there are:
o 40 million living with HIV (most in Africa, 25.8 million)
o 4.9 million new HIV infections in 2005 (mostly in Africa, 3.2 million)
o 3.1 million AIDS deaths in 2005, (mostly in Africa, 2.4 million)

Tuberculosis kills 1.75 million people each year, with 8.8 million new cases a year, as the World Health Organization (WHO) points out. In addition,
o Someone in the world is newly infected with TB bacilli every second.
o Overall, one-third of the world’s population is currently infected with the TB bacillus.
o 5-10% of people who are infected with TB bacilli (but who are not infected with HIV) become sick or infectious at some time during their life.

TB is a leading cause of death among people who are HIV-positive. It accounts for about 13% of AIDS deaths worldwide. In Africa, HIV is the single most important factor determining the increased incidence of TB in the past 10 years.
Tuberculosis, World Health Organization, Fact Sheet No 104, April 2005

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