universities have experience and capabilities in 

 occupational health and safety that would be useful to 

 developing countries. 



OPPORTUNITIES AND PROPOSED INITIATIVES 

 1. Infectious Diseases of the Tropics 



Infectious diseases — bacterial, viral, and 

 parasitic — are a major cause of illness and death in 

 developing countries and a serious retardant to 

 development. The extent to which science and 

 technology have been applied to these diseases has 

 varied: for some an effective means of intervention is 

 available but underutilized (e.g., tuberculosis); for 

 others tools are nonexistent or inadequate for public 

 health purposes (e.g. , American trypanosomiasis) . 

 Improved disease control requires greater application 

 of available technology; more research to develop new 

 tools, techniques, and knowledge; and increased 

 training in the United States and abroad to do both, 

 all within the context of appropriate resource 

 allocation and effective delivery systems. 



Table 4 indicates those infectious diseases that 

 panel members felt were of the greatest importance in 

 developing countries, along with their estimates of 

 current or potential interventions for controlling 

 them. The diarrheal diseases (including cholera) , 

 malaria, certain immunizable diseases, and tuberculosis 

 are accorded the highest priority. Schistosomiasis 

 probably belongs with this group, but its public health 

 significance is still poorly understood. Important, 

 but of lesser priority, are filariasis (including 

 onchocerciasis) , trypanosomiasis, and leprosy. Other 

 diseases such as yaws, cerebrospinal meningitis, and 

 dracunculosis are also high priority problems in some 

 settings but are not as widespread. 



Rationale for Selecting this Topic 



The impact of infectious diseases is enormous. Up 

 to 25 percent of African children under five years old 

 die of measles or its complications; many others are 

 left partially blinded or otherwise handicapped. In 

 some countries, control of endemic malaria has halved 

 infant mortality rates within a few years. 



The potential for overcoming these diseases varies, 

 depending partly on whether a single, long-lasting 

 intervention such as immunization is required (measles) 

 as opposed to long-term treatment (leprosy) or repeated 

 intervention against a vector (onchocerciasis) . For 



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