Vector Issue 10 - 2009

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contents issue 10 november 2009 3 Editor’s Note 11 9 4 What Lurks in the Shadows: noncommunicable disease in the developing world 5 Heart Disease and Stroke Threaten Developing World 6 Tipping the Scales: the ‘expansion’ of the global community 8 Smoking and Tobacco’s Impact on the Developing World: the worlds top health priority 9 A Conversation with the Indian Consul General 10 The Nageri Misiion 11 Mental Health Crisis in China 12 Medicine and Mosquitoes: a medical student’s month in Papua New Guinea 13 Stories from Cambodia 14 Global Health In The News www.ghn.amsa.org.au 16 13 the non-communicable diseases edition 2 vector november 2009 Global Health Network Update 15 Welcome to the GHN 15 A Year in the GHN: Looking back and Looking Forwards 16 The Global Health Conference: Challenging the world after Brisbane 17 Global Health Series - University of Sydney 17 Student Involvement - Helping VSAP to help others Creative Pieces 18 The Boy who Jumped off the Bridge 19 Noor 20 at a Glance: India
editor’s note “ Kruthika Narayan Vikram Joshi Rami Subhi The golden arches of McDonalds have become a ubiquitous metaphor for globalisation; previously in the economic sense, but perhaps now as a symbol of the global epidemic of ‘lifestyle’ diseases. There is an inherent irony in that the very symbols of prosperity and growth have become emblems for illness, in the developed world with growing incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The picture is both similar and different in the less developed world. Instead of representing the dangers of excess, the rampant increase in NCDs in less-developed countries Non-communicable diseases, with their precursors of high cholesterol, hypertension and obesity, are overwhelming the developing world much faster than the developed reflects the deficiencies of stretched health systems traditionally geared towards relief of acute illness in handling the immense burdens of chronic disease. It also highlights the effects of environmental exploitation limiting access to fresh healthy foods, and the dire struggle of the growing populations of the urban poor for whom chronic disease is yet another force perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty. Non-communicable diseases, with their precursors of high cholesterol, hypertension and obesity, are overwhelming the developing world much faster than the developed. Added to this are high rates of smoking and the long standing struggle against chronic infections. The World Health Organisation estimates that NCDs, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and respiratory diseases, are responsible for over half of all deaths and 46% of the global disease burden. Health issues in the developing world have thus far concentrated on communicable diseases; and rightly so, since many of these are preventable and/or readily treatable. But with the rise of NCDs including HIV/AIDS, an emerging concern about the influence of climate change and the environment on health outcomes, and the appreciation of the economic implications of chronic diseases particularly when compounded with poverty and failing health systems, it is time to promote the ” complexities of NCDs on the global agenda. In this issue of Vector, we consider the impact of non-communicable diseases in settings least equipped to bear the burden of mortality, morbidity and economic strain they impose. The challenges are immense. The experience of the Western World attests to the difficulty in preventing and treating chronic disease; a difficulty compounded by the resource limitations of low income countries. The multifactorial causes of NCDs require a shift in attitude, not just in local government policies but in the ethics of operation of industries, corporations and nations, and a shift in the perceptions of the global society as a whole. Vector: The Official Student Publication of the AMSA Global Health Network GHN Publicity Officer Editors Design & Layout Catherine Pendrey Kruthika Nayaran Vikram Joshi Rami Subhi Alexander Murphy Editorial enquiries: Email vectormag@gmail.com GHN enquiries: ghn.publicity@gmail.com or visit www.ghn.amsa.org.au We welcome your written submissions, letters and photos on any global health issue or topic. Please limit submissions to 500 words or less. Cover Photo: The locals in Papua New Guinea // Image by Georgia Ritchie, Medical Student, University of Sydney november 2009 vector3 www.ghn.amsa.org.au
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Vector Issue 10 - 2009

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