The Burden of Chronic Disease

Abstract

The shift from acute infectious and deficiency diseases to chronic noncommunicable diseases is not a simple transition but a complex and dynamic epidemiological process, with some diseases disappearing and others appearing or reemerging. The unabated pandemic of childhood and adulthood obesity and concomitant comorbidities are affecting both rich and poor nations, while infectious diseases remain an important public health problem, particularly in developing countries. More attention should be given to the high burden of disease associated with soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis, which until recently was not considered a priority even though regular drug treatment is obtainable at relatively little cost. In developing countries, the pressing requirement is to provide an accessible and good quality health-care system, whereas industrialized countries have a major need for greater public health education and the promotion of healthy life-styles.

Are Patients and Relatives the Better Innovators? The Case of Medical Smartphone Applications

“…Our initiative is supported by current developments in healthcare: There is a shift from acute to chronic diseases that require long-term commitment from healthcare professionals towards their patients (Holman and Lorig 2004;Mascie-Taylor and Karim 2003). Furthermore, patients seek to increase quality of life and wellbeing, rather than to increase life expectancy (Steptoe et al 2015).…”

Rich Diseases in Poor Countries

“…In parallel well known existing, emerging, and reemerging diseases including tuberculosis, hepatitis, malaria, AIDS and others continue to be the major of morbidity and mortality in the developing countries (6)(7)(8)(9). Notably, there is some evidence of associations between communicable and non-communicable diseases which contradict the separation of the two categories of the diseases among academic and health policy makers (6)(7)(8)(9).…”

“…Notably, there is some evidence of associations between communicable and non-communicable diseases which contradict the separation of the two categories of the diseases among academic and health policy makers (6)(7)(8)(9). For example, people with diabetes are seven times more likely to have culture-positive incident TB (6,9).…”

Vers la génomique du schistosome

“…Le fardeau économique et social que représentent les helminthiases (bilharziose, onchocercose, filarioses lymphatiques, ascaridiose, etc.) est encore sous-évalué [3] et il est nécessaire de focaliser plus d'attention et de moyens sur le contrôle de ces maladies. Les schistosomiases font encore partie de ces «grandes maladies négligées» avec, répartis dans 75 pays du tiers-monde, environ 200 millions d'in-dividus infectés par les trois espèces principales de vers plats parasites, et 280 000 décès par an pour le seul continent africain [4].…”