Endemic and epidemic diseases in Third World countries Essay

Endemic and epidemic diseases in Third World countries - Essay Example Large numbers of such diseases are seen in the third world countries today, owing to a lack of proper health and hygiene practice in the ways of living of the people, lack of proper medical services, and also due to poverty. Many diseases that are commonly seen in these countries are air and water borne, like dysentery, malaria, polio, typhoid and cholera. Another disease which is now taking the shape of a great epidemic is the HIV-AIDS, especially in the African belt. Here there have been reportedly more than 2 million deaths in 2000, and now around 70% of all AIDS cases are said to be from Africa. Thus, AIDS has become an epidemic in Africa and is still spreading with women being more affected than men are. As Shanmuganandan tells us, â€Å"It is observed that the epidemiological situation is precarious in some regions of the Third World such as African parts of Caribbean and Latin America. Cases of AIDS have almost doubled in the Asia-Pacific region. Africa is the leading continent...It is also inferred that the regions identified to report with a higher prevalence rate are Brazil, The Bahamas, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, the countries included are Hong K ong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, The Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand†( Shanmuganandan, AIDS in Third World Countries: A Geomedical Study). Without proper treatment and medical facilities, HIV-AIDS continues to spread mercilessly. Dysentery is another disease that continues to affect thousands in the third world countries due to poor lifestyle practices. As Macfarlene comments â€Å"Dysentery is of major importance in most non-western societies, as anyone who has spent time in a Third World country today knows†¦ If we take just amoebic dysentery In 1981, it was estimated that there were about 480 million infected people in the world: 290 million