Future perspectives on veterinary hemoparasite research in the tropics at the start of this century.
This paper has two main objectives: (1) to promote discussion about the future of veterinary hemoparasite research at the start of the twenty-first century and the third millennium, and (2) to stimulate young students to start research on parasitology, in particular in the field of veterinary tropical diseases. It is well known that in the twenty-first century human society will be challenged by several major problems resulting from the demographic explosion, since the Earth's population for the year 2020 will reach 8.5 billion, or 10 billion for the year 2050, as long as the birth rate decreases from 2.8 births per woman today to 2.0 by the year 2030 (data released by the U.N. Population Fund, 1998). Since the food production rate, either from plant or animal origin, is lower than the human birth rate, the challenge ahead will be to produce enough food for ten billion people. Consequently, to deal with this problem, especially in developing nations, it is proposed: (1) to give priority status to scientific research in the agriculture and animal fields; (2) to concentrate financial support and efforts for research especially on hemoparasitic diseases (i.e., babesiosis, anaplasmosis, cowdriosis, ehrlichiosis, and trypanosomosis), in particular to apply biotechnology techniques to those animal diseases; and (3) to grant a better role to studies on veterinary and medical parasitology in universities of the Americas and Europe, since in these universities parasitology is currently considered a secondary subject.
Melendez
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RD
Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado (UCLA), Barquisimeto, Lara, 3001-A, Venezuela. rmelende@delfos.ucla.edu.ve
D000383:Agriculture; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010274:Parasitology / Q000639:trends; D012106:Research / Q000639:trends; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014687:Venezuela; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000639:trends*