Update on preventing mother-to-child transmission. Post-partum therapy for moms and infants, plus drug resistance in offspring. Press release from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This paper presents an interview with Dr. David Satcher of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the issue of infectious and chronic diseases. The problem of new and reemerging infectious diseases around the world, particularly in developing countries, is discussed. While drug resistant malaria and sporadic outbreaks of Ebola in Africa have alarmed health programs, AIDS is the major emerging infectious disease throughout the world. Microorganisms have a way of surviving: they mutate, they adapt, and they emerge. The CDC¿s major partner in the global response to emerging infections is WHO. The CDC has learned lessons from its experience with AIDS and Ebola virus events. A system of domestic surveillance and global prevention should be developed. Poverty, hunger and malnutrition may contribute to the rise of chronic diseases in developing countries. The introduction of richer diets higher in cholesterol in combination with a sedentary lifestyle also will also lead to more chronic diseases among people in developing countries. In the future, smoking will have a greater impact on mortality than will any other factor in these countries. Infectious diseases are much less predictable. Drug resistant microorganisms and urbanization counterbalance the development of vaccines. The U.S. health care system wrongly prioritizes tertiary care while spending only 1% of its health budget on the prevention of diseases. Dr. Satcher would like to see the implementation of programs dealing with human behavior, sanitation, immunization and health education as preventive measures.