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Book Summary
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The developing countries that are experiencing the fastest transition from infectious to noncommunicable diseases are also the same nations that are least prepared for it.
Plagues and the Paradox of Progress
Why the global drop in infectious illnesses isn't all good news.
Plagues and parasites have shaped the creation of the modern state, the expansion of cities, and the unequal fortunes of national economies throughout the world. This book relates that narrative, but it isn't about pestilence reappearing. It tells the tale of its demise. Viruses, bacteria, and other infectious illnesses are not the primary cause of death or disability in any part of the world for the first time in recorded history. People are living longer lives, and fewer moms are giving birth to large families in the hopes that some of their children will survive. However, the news is not all positive. Infectious illness decreases in recent years have not been matched by the same increases in money, employment opportunities, or governance that happened decades ago in wealthier nations. Unintended repercussions have also occurred. Thomas Bollyky analyses the contradiction in our fight against infectious disease in this book: the world is growing healthier in ways that should concern us.
Bollyky mixes a sweeping historical narrative about plagues' rise and demise in human cultures with modern case studies of their impacts. Bollyky travels to Dhaka, one of the world's most densely inhabited cities, to demonstrate how low-cost health aids aided the phenomena of third world megacities. He travels to China and Kenya to show how disease decreases have impacted national economies. Bollyky examines the significance of infectious illness in migrations from Ireland before to the potato famine, as well as today's migrations from Africa and other parts of the world to Europe.
Historic medical breakthroughs are reshaping a world that is both frightening and full with possibilities. Bollyky emphasises that what we do next will determine whether the danger or promise of such advancement prevails.
The developing countries that are experiencing the fastest transition from infectious to noncommunicable diseases are also the same nations that are least prepared for it.
