Our planet is currently being challenged by dramatic changes to earth and human systems under the influence of climate change and variability. These include changes of population and environmental dynamics that impacts human health. Thus, climate change is considered the biggest threat to human health in the 21st century. Health impacts can be direct typically related to extreme weather events; indirect with linkages to climate change induced environmental alterations and damage or in relation to displacement, conflict and social disruption. This presentation provides a series of examples of changes of environmental and social determinants of health with negative or positive health impacts. These include impacts on communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and mental health of importance in particular in vulnerable urban and rural settings as well as among sensitive community groups exposed to variations in temperature and precipitation patterns.

Infectious diseases have a specific, ethiological cause, e.g. a microbe such as tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, most people exposed to TB does not develop the disease. What determines this may be poverty, weakening of the person by other diseases or smoking and alcohol. So-called life-style diseases are (also) determined by the way you live, and include prevalent non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases, but besides of risk factors such as smoking and drinking or over-eating, the living conditions matter equally and sometimes more. The environment, climate changes, urbanization, socio-economic factors all impact health and disease. When an individual grows older, patterns of his/her diseases changes: the same applies when a society grows ‘older’.

Previously infectious diseases previously caused the majority of ill-health and premature death globally, but in high- and middle-income countries during the 20.th century infectious diseases – with the exception of HIV – declined. Introduction of hygiene and discovery of microbes and later vaccines an antibiotics contributed to the decline, but changing living conditions with better housing, nutrition, water and sanitation were the main drivers of infectious diseases’ decline.

This presentation provides an introduction to infectious diseases like tuberculosis, vector-borne diseases, puerperal sepsis, streptococcus septicemia, etc. and how these diseases have affected global health over the last two centuries and decades.

In this presentation the achievement regarding the 8 millennium goals (MDG), set by the United Nation’s member states to be reached by 2015 are reviewed, with emphasis on Infectious diseases, such as HIV, TB malaria and other vector-borne diseases, including Chagas’ disease and African trypanosomiasis, the latter belong to the ‘neglected tropical diseases’. What made it happen and why (not) is discussed.

In this presentation the global burden of diseases – deaths as well as disabilities – jointly named DALYs – is presented and differences and similarities between lo-, middle-, and high-income countries presently and over time are presented. The strict division between non-communicable and communicable (infectious) diseases is also challenged, and propositions on how to manage them jointly are given. The double burden of NCD+overnutrition and CD+undernutrition in societies in fast transition is presented. The present vs. the expected global burden of diseases by the year 2030 are also introduced.

Despite a steady decline in recent years, malaria continues to be a major cause of ill health and poverty in large parts of the world. The purpose of this video lesson is to get the student to think critically about what might have caused this change, and how infection and disease is affected by human intervention and other drivers of change. Additionally, to encourage the student to engage actively in efforts to combat major infectious disease obstacles to a more equitable world.

This lesson plan is a Problem-Based Learning Lesson Plan, which means that the students will work together in groups to complete portions of the lesson. There are also portions of the lesson that require individual work, but they always share their findings with their classmates, whether in person or online.

This lesson is about germs, bacteria, and communicable diseases. The students will learn about germs and how to prevent the spread of germs. They will also learn how germs and bacteria cause communicable diseases. The students will participate in several activities, and they should have a solid grasp of the subjects by the time they complete the culminating, or final, activity.

By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
Professor Tehmina Mustafa, CIH, Haukeland University Hospital, University of Bergen

Mustafa began by pointing out that the UN Millennium Development Goals, which preceded the SDGs (Goal 6: COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES), had only highlighted a few global communicable diseases. The SDGs continue to address the challenges of communicable disease epidemics, but have a widened focus to include a number of other important diseases. Also diseases that are not only pathogen caused.

Mustafa underlined that communicable disease epidemics highlight other global issues such as social injustice and social inequality. The years of life lost to these diseases is much higher in “hot-spots”, generally located in low- and middle-income countries.

According to Mustafa, the approaches included in the SDGs are more integrated than those of the MDGs and will be better able to lead to research directions that will help to alleviate the health and economic implications of communicable disease outbreaks.

Poster for the Chicago Department of Health, showing a flying disc "Toxoid" preventing a lightning bolt from striking a child. Date stamped on verso: Mar 20 1941.

Poster encouraging truck drivers to report to proper authorities cases of communicable diseases encountered on their routes. Date stamped on verso: Jul 20 1940. Exhibited: "Capitol Visitor's Center" at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., Nov. 1, 2005 - Dec. 31, 2006.

Students will learn that microorganisms can get inside one's body and they may keep it from working properly. Students will learn that vaccinations help to prevent some diseases but not others.