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Medication against AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS) is already developed for HIV Virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). It is possible to stay well with proper care and medication. Since 2004, the death rate related to HIV all around the world in 2017 dropped by 51% percent. However, there are a lot to remain. In 2017, 37 million are suffering by HIV, and countries with weak infrastructure and health policies don’t show an evident decrease in death rate. The rate of infection and death heavily depends on social level or gender. In Sub-Saharan Africa, especially, adolescents and young women show double in infection rates than males in the same ages. This means that in patriarchal developing countries, many women are suffering from human rights violations, violence, stigmatization, low medical accessibility.
International society have been trying by 2020.
Malaria is a disease that is infected by mosquitoes. The number of infections is not significant, and death is scarce, but Korea, as of 2019, is one of the 87 dangerous countries WHO officially recognized. In 2018, 200 million people were newly infected with Malaria, 430 thousand dead by it, and 61% of them were children below the age of 5. Still, a lot of people are out of access for the prevention and treatment of Malaria in Africa. 90% of infection and 92% of death by it occur in the African region. However, what is remarkable is that WHO officially announced that eight countries of United Arab Emirates in 2007, Morocco in 2010, Republic of Maldives, SriLanka, Kyrgyz Republic and Republic of Paraguay received WHO certification for having eliminated malaria in September 2016.
Global society, led by WHO, is trying to achieve specific goals such as
Tuberculosis is one of the 10 top causes of death all around the world. Ten million were counted to have tuberculosis in 2017, and 1.6 million were dead by it, 95% of which occurred in low- or mid- income countries. 60% of tuberculosis infection happens in 6 dangerous countries such as India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa. 61% occurs in Asia and 26% in Africa. Tuberculosis is also one of the leading causes of death of HIV-infected people.
The number of death by tuberculosis is gradually decreasing with the efforts of international society. Globally tuberculosis incidence rate is reducing by 2% each year. Fifty-four million people got treated from 2000 to 2007, and the rate of death decreased by 47%, the rate of infection by 42%. The death rate of HIV-infected people also dropped by more than 1/3. UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’ includes reducing deaths from tuberculosis by 90% and infection by 80% by 2030. International society is making its efforts in various ways for it.
Viral hepatitis made 134 million dead only in 2015, which is a much higher number than death caused by HIV. Death caused by viral hepatitis is continuously increasing, while death by tuberculosis and HIV steadily decreasing. Viral hepatitis occurs regardless of income level, but the number of patients is much higher in low-income or mid-income countries. Particularly hepatitis B 7.4 times more in prevalence rate, and 9.2 times more in incidence rate in developing countries than developed countries. Cure and diagnosis rates are also much lower in developing countries.
There have been fewer efforts on research, investment, or treatment than other infections, since it has not been considered to be in a priority group. However, hepatitis is noticed to be a significant issue in global health. UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well- being for all at all ages,’ target 3.3, includes By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other infectious diseases. For this, vaccine activation, prevention of vertical transmission, usage of sanitized medical tools, provision of proper tools to medical personnel, and provision of medicine for appropriate treatment are needed. Adequate and effective strategies are also required under demography and geography.
Above hepatitis, international societies pay attention on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). In NTD, Leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, African trypanosomiasis, Schistosomiasis, and (Filariasis are included. What they have in common is that they occur mainly in Africa, South America, and Southeastern Asia. In the meantime, they are called ‘neglected’ because the people who are most affected by these diseases are often the most impoverished populations, living in remote, rural areas, urban slums or conflict zones. Neglected tropical diseases persist under conditions of poverty and are concentrated almost exclusively in impoverished populations in the developing world.
The reason that NTD treatment showed progress is that the accessibility of patients to treatment had been improved. International society should invent new solutions, pay attention to places of frequent accidents, and improve vaccination rates to eradicate NTD.