Infectious diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. There are organisms present within our body or on the surface of our skin. The problem is that under certain conditions an organism may become the opposite of beneficial and become harmful causing a disease. Some of the diseases that could potentially affect a person now have a vaccine that could help inhibit the occurrence of a disease within a person.
However, developing a vaccine costs money and research. Both of these resources can be rare in developing and underprivileged nations whose economies may not have the funds to afford it. What wealthier countries may be able to do that less wealthy ones possibly cannot is invest more money in immunizations, control of disease vectors (organisms that transmit a pathogen to another organism), and give treatment or access to treatment after the person contracts the disease. Without the ability to afford these methods of prevention and treatment, typically countries with less ability to do so have also displayed that the people present within their boarders have shorter lifespans.
It's interesting that the environment of a country can allow for certain species of organisms to exist that have certain functions. These functions can play a role in the transmission of disease between organisms, or the species itself may allow for an environment that is suitable for the pathogen to thrive in an area where it was not present before. Human disturbances or changes in the environment may cause a new habitat dynamic that may be suitable for different organisms. New organisms and a new environment may allow for new vectors to emerge or for disease to thrive in the area.
The problem is that poverty contributes to populations' increased susceptibility to disease, due to the inability to prevent certain risks and lower likelihood to be able afford treatment or a means to get to a place to receive it. As infectious diseases continue to be with us, and money and research are necessary to combat this problem, one question remains unanswered: What happens to the nations that are more underdeveloped as they change their environments to draw in economic wealth?
