The Impact of Diseases
A large number of deadly diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and other parasites are the major causes of death, disability, and social and economic disruption for millions of people. Infectious diseases directly impact families and communities through lost productivity, missed educational opportunities and high health-care costs. The adverse impact of these diseases are most prevalent in the developing countries. For instance:
# over 9.5 million people die each year due to infectious diseases and children being more vulnerable to infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria causing death among children
# there is always the risk of co – infection as people affected with diseases like HIV/AIDS are more susceptible to other diseases like tuberculosis, malaria etc
# illness and death from infectious diseases are particularly tragic because they are largely preventable and treatable with available interventions
# efforts to achieve the sixth Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which focuses on stopping and reversing the spread of infectious diseases by renewed interest in the research and development of new diagnostics, vaccines and drug treatments.