Asia faces disease threat from animals, new viruses
SINGAPORE. April 1. KAZINFORM Asia faces twin health problems of infectious diseases stemming from animals and the emergence of drug-resistant strains of viruses that make treatment difficult, a World Health Organization official said, Kazinform refers to Arab News.
Henk Bekedam, head of WHO's health sector development, said 75 percent of new diseases such as H1N1, H5N1 and SARS stem from animals and the best way to prevent the spread is to properly separate animals and human beings.
"In China, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, animals are still very close to people," Bekedam told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday on the sidelines of a health conference in Singapore.
"These are issues we need to continue taking up, and after SARS, we know the need to share information." The close proximity between humans and animals allows viruses and other micro-organisms to jump the species barrier.
One example of this is the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which spreaded around the world in 2003, killing more than 800 people.
Experts have long feared the avian H5N1 flu virus would trigger a pandemic, even though it is still a disease mostly confined to birds.
The close proximity between chickens and people has allowed H5N1 to jump the species barrier and infect humans, who suffer a death rate of 60 percent from the virus.
WHO declared a pandemic when the current H1N1 swine flu virus began spreading around the world last year, but many people have tended to dismiss the event because of its relatively low death rate and mild symptoms in most people.
However, Bekedam said the virus still caused a substantial number of deaths. Many of them were older children and people with common underlying medical conditions, like asthma and obesity, who would have survived if not for the virus.
Incorrect use of drugs in Asia for critical diseases like HIV and tuberculosis is also leading to growing drug resistance, and Bekedam urged member states to monitor the dangerous trend.
Drugs to fight TB and HIV have to be taken on time, and failure to keep to the strict regimen often results in the drug becoming ineffective so the patient will need stronger drugs - which may be unavailable.
While Bekedam declined to cite specific countries facing this problem, he said: "Drug resistance to HIV is very important, and WHO is advising member states to keep track of that." As for tuberculosis, Bekedam said drug-resistant TB was prevalent in places where anti-TB programs failed in the past, Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.