Economic development and tropical disease.
Development stands for an improved quality of life through gains in health, education, living standards, and higher income. Development is based on economic growth. Although all indicators of development: GDP per capita, average life expectancy at birth, and per capita income have been rising in almost all countries, including the "developing" countries over the past decades, economic growth did not lead to the expected disappearance of infectious diseases. Economic growth is associated with severe degradation of the natural world. Though economic growth is essential for development, it is a highly imperfect proxy for it. The people who suffer from the adverse effects of economic growth are often different from those who benefit from it. Economic development shows two faces with regard to tropical diseases: it is essential for their prevention and cure and it contributes to their transmission and severity through its impact on the environment. The pivotal point is poverty. If economic growth leads to improved education and social organization, even adverse effects can be mastered by the community.
Department of Population and International Health, Epidemiology, Tropical Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
U K
UK
Brinkmann
D004467:Economics; D006801:Humans; D014330:Tropical Medicine