Medical Innovations
This treatment, considered one of the most important medical advances of the century, combats dehydration caused by diarrhea using a simple solution of salt, glucose, and water.
What is Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT)?
This period saw life expectancy in "less-developed regions" increase by over 10 years, from 42 to 53 years
What is 1950–1970?
This UN agency won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 for improving child health worldwide.
What is UNICEF?
By 1950, this theory of disease was widely accepted and contributed to rapid health advancements in poor countries.
What is the germ theory of disease?
This economist’s research showed that most improvements in life expectancy were due to medical innovations rather than increased income.
Who is Samuel Preston?
This class of drugs, introduced during World War II, played a major role in reducing infectious diseases postwar.
What are antibiotics (specifically penicillin)?
In 2008, this group accounted for 15% of global deaths but made up more than one-third of deaths in low-income countries.
Who are children under the age of five?
These programs focus on specific diseases and often involve short-term, military-style operations directed by international organizations.
What are vertical health programs?
This type of mortality, measuring deaths before age five, has seen dramatic reductions globally but remains high in low-income regions.
What is child mortality?
This Asian country’s life expectancy dropped sharply due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic but has rebounded with antiretroviral therapy.
What is Botswana?
This chemical was widely used for vector control to combat malaria but was later restricted due to environmental concerns.
What is DDT?
These diseases, including measles and whooping cough, are referred to by WHO as "childhood diseases."
What are preventable diseases?
This life-saving treatment was proven effective during a cholera outbreak in Bangladeshi and Indian refugee camps in 1973.
What is Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT)?
These diseases, including tuberculosis and malaria, are still major killers in low-income countries despite being largely eliminated in rich nations.
What are diseases of poverty?
This term describes the shift from infectious to chronic diseases as the main causes of death as countries develop.
What is the epidemiological transition?
These campaigns, led by WHO and UNICEF, helped eliminate diseases such as smallpox and reduced the prevalence of polio.
What are immunization campaigns?
This major epidemic caused life expectancy in Botswana to fall back to 49 years in 2000–2005.
What is HIV/AIDS?
This region in India saw significant improvements in education for girls, which contributed to better child survival rates.
What is Rajasthan?
Name the two countries compared in the chapter for their contrasting approaches to economic growth and health improvement.
What are China and India?
In this country, economic reforms after 1990 led to accelerated growth but had a limited direct impact on health improvements.
What is India?
Name the global initiative established in 2000 to reinvigorate vaccination efforts worldwide
What is the GAVI Alliance?
This country’s famine from 1958 to 1961 highlighted the risks of one-party rule and poor policy implementation.
What is China?
These two factors, alongside medical interventions, were highlighted as crucial for improving health outcomes in lower-income countries.
What are better education and higher incomes?
This Indian state’s grassroots political activism has led to better public health outcomes compared to Rajasthan.
What is Kerala?
This term describes the coexistence of poor public health services and unregulated private medical care in many low-income countries.
What is the dual health system?