Medicine in the Modern World Continued…

1. Medicine in the Modern WorldContinued… By Mr Day Downloaded from SchoolHistory.co.uk

2. Lesson Objectives • To examine the role of the World Health Organisation in fighting disease and ill health. • To look at and identify modern issues in medicine.

3. WHO's goal is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health • The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health. It was established on 7 April 1948. • Health is defined in WHO's Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

4. WHO is governed by 192 Member States through the World Health Assembly • 4 February 2005South Asia slashes polio cases by nearly half. • 26 January 2005700 000 people living with AIDS in developing countries now receiving treatment

5. 13 January 2005African health leaders vow to meet polio eradication goalDespite spread of virus to Sudan and Saudi Arabia, ministers optimistic about wiping out paralysing disease • One of the WHO’s aims is to encourage vaccination programmes on a global scale. • Today 8 out of 10 children in the world have been vaccinated against the killer diseases.

7. Modern Issues Concerning Medicine Today • Doctors discover new HIV strain  By Marc Santora and Lawrence K. Altman The New York Times Saturday, February 12, 2005 • Virus is resistant to nearly all drugs • A previously unknown strain of HIV that is highly resistant to virtually all known drugs and appears to lead to the rapid onset of AIDS was detected in a man last week, New York health officials said Friday. • While the extent of the spread of the disease is unknown, officials said the situation was alarming. • "We consider this a major potential problem," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The department issued an alert to all hospitals and doctors in the city to be on the lookout for the new strain.

8. Modern Issues Concerning Medicine Today • While HIV strains that are resistant to some drug treatments have been on the rise in recent years throughout the United States, city officials said this case was unique and worrisome for several reasons. • First, they said, the strain of the disease was resistant to three of the four classes of drugs used to treat HIV from the moment the patient got sick. of drugs. • But the resistance comes in combination with its rapid transformation into AIDS. Each of those things has been seen before, but never together. • In this case, the patient developed AIDS from 2 to 10 months after being infected. Usually, it takes 10 years for the average person infected with HIV to develop AIDS.

9. Superbugs • One serious issue that has affected modern medicine if the over use of antibiotics. • Many people often insist that their doctors prescribe them antibiotic to cure whatever illnesses they believe they have. • In the short term they may benefit from a ‘cure’. • However there are serious long term implications.

10. Superbugs • With the over use of antibiotics bacteria are developing immunity. • Stronger antibiotics are needed all the time. • Farmers also use antibiotics in animal feed to prevent illness in their livestock herds. • Many scientists are concerned that they are running out of weapons to fight bacteria. They warn of the danger that these new superbugs pose.

11. Superbugs in the News • Super-Resistant SuperbugsMay 2, 2004 • CBS) It's been 60 years since Dr. Alexander Fleming discovered a drug called penicillin, the first antibiotic. Since then, doctors have prescribed the drugs to cure everything from pneumonia to scarlet fever. But now, scientists are sounding the alarm that we have been overusing antibiotics - and that the germs have figured out ways to become resistant to them. Correspondent Lesley Stahl reports. Infections we thought we had conquered once and for all are coming back because of a new breed of germs that doctors call "superbugs" -- bacteria that are resistant to almost all antibiotics. The latest culprit is called MRSA, a staph bacteria that triggers infections so virulent they can - and have - turned deadly within days.

12. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) • AIDS is probably the most serious health danger facing the world today. • A massive amount of time, money and research has been spent trying to find a cure, however there is still no cure or magic bullet. • As with epidemics that took place hundreds of years ago e.g. (Black Death) certain groups of people have been blamed or made a scapegoat. • Aids has been blamed on Africa and homosexuals - some people claimed it was a punishment from God .

13. The Fight Against AIDS • The HIV virus has been found to cause AIDS. • Many drugs have been developed that slow HIV down from developing AIDS although there is evidence that other strains of HIV are developing. • Up to 2001 17.5 million people have died of aids. • In 2005 the number of people living with AIDS was 37.2 million.

14. Genetic Engineering • With advances in medical technology scientists have been able to study cells, genes and chromosomes in microscopic detail. • Scientists are now able to alter or destroy damaged or diseased cells. This has become known as genetic engineering. • This is very controversial work. Critics have argued about the creation of designer babies. • Cloning is now a possibility. Clones could be used to produce organs or tissue. This raises many ethical issues.