Question

Emerging Diseases, Resistant Diseases and Bioterrorism Globalization is said to have an impact on both emerging and re-emerging diseases. Please explain how this happens and what you think can be done about it? In what way does globalization contribute to the growth of resistant diseases as well as increased threats from bioterrorism? What do you think can be done about these issues? Please be specific and provide reasons for your answers.

Answer 1

Globalization contributes to the spread of emerging and re-emerging diseases. It happens as globalization has brought movement of workers from one place to another place and these workers or labor force become the carrier of these diseases. For example, a labor goes from Latin America or Asian region to the countries of Africa. He gets infected and come back to his own nation and makes other people get infected if they come in contact by some means. It makes diseases from Africa to travel and come to the Asia or other regions. Ebola virus and its fever was the example of it.  On a similar note, re-emerging diseases such as TB also spreads as it is not yet finished in many developing nations. So, once people go to work in these nations and get infected, then the disease spreads in those nations also where it was under control. Now, it becomes a case of re-emerging diseases where many cases get erupted. To control this problem, it is important to medically screen anybody who is going out or coming in to the country to check the medical status or any change. It will make medical authorities to know things at the earliest as it comes to their nation and controlling mechanism can be started at the earliest.

Globalization also played a role in movement of goods and logistics and now it is very easy to ship goods from one corner to another in the world. These logistics can also carry materials that have viruses, or harmful bacteria that can cause loss of life to the mass. It should be controlled by effective verification of goods being shipped, proper verification and passing through advanced system to check for the bio terr-orism related materials. For resistant disease, people are responsible if they do not complete the course of medicines or they get contaminated. To deal with it, measures similar to the re emerging diseases should be applied to control it.