Of diseases rampant in the Third World, AIDS gets the most attention and focus. Not coincidentally, it is also one of the few diseases that remain a threat to First World countries.
While other diseases do not get anywhere as much media attention as AIDS, there are other completely preventable diseases that afflict the world’s poor to a greater degree than AIDS.
While AIDS is believed to have claimed over 3 million lives in 2005 alone, a total of 11 million people have been estimated killed by infectious diseases like malaria, TB and measles.
These basic diseases kill far more people than wars, but attract less media attention.
Furthermore, it seems they also attract less attention because the people affected are from poor countries.
While many of these diseases have long been recognized as resulting from poverty, some are now contributing to poverty.
I repeat this point: Eleven million people in poor countries will die from infectious diseases this year, and many of these diseases are easily preventable. --While the nations of the World are too busy investing billions into weapons and defense budgets to notice --or care.
Put a different way, by the time you finish browsing blogs 100 people will have died. Half of them will be children under age five.
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