28.03.1996

Social disease

Over two years ago, the Weekly Worker pointed to the development of a world-wide tuberculosis epidemic, posing a greater threat to health than Aids. Last week, the World Health Organisation confirmed that over three million deaths from TB occurred in 1995.

TB is part of a complex of diseases, each of which both intensify the effects and accelerate the spread of the others: Aids, Yaws, leprosy and VD in particular. The increase in frequency of these diseases makes it more likely that they will mutate in such a manner as to make them resistant to antibiotics while becoming more virulent and infectious.

The main reason for the spread of TB is the social conditions. The spread at the moment is taking place in areas of rapid urbanisation and in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia, where social conditions are deteriorating. The main causes of TB are poor diet and bad housing (including sewage and water provision).

WHO criticises the drugs industry for its lack of interest in developing new anti-TB drugs. But these huge transnationals will never develop drugs for people who cannot pay for them. The solution must be to tackle the social conditions which are the root cause of these diseases.

John Bayliss