We tend to think that the big cure for all the infectious diseaases of our great grandparents' generation was the introduction of modern drugs.Evidence tells us that the huge improvment in mortality was due largely to improvements in public health. Better housing, better water and better diet plus labour laws and the advent of public education, which took children out of the workplace, were the most important factors. Most of the war on TB was won by 1939 before the advent of antibiotiocs. It was won by the introduction of better living conditions. It is ironic that TB is back. TB is back largely because ,for many people, such as those in prison in Russia or living in inner city slums, the social and local conditions that support the diseas have been reproduced.
Many of us today believe that it is access to more medicine that will keep us well. I believe that the deep underlying cause is public helth: it is our modern workplace and shifts in society that appear to weaken our immune system. Maybe we need another "Public Health" vision that looks more carefully at the surge of Chronic diseases, called lifestyle diseases by some, that are the main concern to us individuals and as health practioners. Here is a paper that explores the myths of modern health.
10:43:13 AM 
|
|
