The vast majority of those diseases are prevented in the developed world by non-medical means. A doctor didn't prevent me from dying of malaria, DDT eliminated malaria in the US before I was born. Doctors didn't cure my cholera, other people flushing preventing me from being exposed to it. The NY/NJ water utilities prevented me from being exposed to water-born diseases and my refrigerator/consistent food supply protected me from spoiled food.
Malaria is still one of the top killers of people world wide, which is why the Gates foundation is funding vaccine research. There are 300 million people world wide infected with malaria, and 1.5 million people die from malaria each year. How's that DDT working for them?
I'm an ER nurse by trade, and I pick up old medical textbooks in antique shops whenever I can. There are usually entire chapters on Polio, Tetanus, Tularemia etc... These are diseases that we just don't see any more. Why? Because of vaccines and antibiotics.
My uncle, (now a surgeon) almost died in the 40's from a ruptured appendix. Know what saved his life? The new miracle drug that had just come on the market: Sulfa antibiotics. I haven't seen a person die from a ruptured appendix in years. Why? Because of antibiotics and surgery.
People used to die from infectious diseases all the time, and they do in the Third World as well. Yes, prevention and basic sanitation help a lot, but that's not the only answer.
Pneumonia used to be a major killer. It's not anymore. Why? Antibiotics and oxygen.
I was born with a cleft lip. I had two surgeries on my lip before I was 1 month old. My parents took me down to Honduras where they worked in a rural village running a school. People in the village were shocked that there was something that could actually fix cleft lips. There were a number of people in that village and surrounding countryside who lived decades with a cleft lip, not knowing that a surgeon could change their lives.
To say that medicine doesn't help people is absolutely absurd.
It would probably work if it were permitted and available. That isn't happening, due to pressure from the various third parties (US/EU governments, donor agencies) who care more about keeping rich environmentalists happy than about saving children's lives.
The fact is, flushing, soap, clean water and food have saved vastly more lives than medicine ever has or will. That's the difference between developed and undeveloped countries; medicine is a distant second.
By the way, my claim is not that medicine doesn't help, that we hit the point of diminishing returns a long time ago and a marginal change in medicine available does not affect health levels.
Malaria is still one of the top killers of people world wide, which is why the Gates foundation is funding vaccine research. There are 300 million people world wide infected with malaria, and 1.5 million people die from malaria each year. How's that DDT working for them?
I'm an ER nurse by trade, and I pick up old medical textbooks in antique shops whenever I can. There are usually entire chapters on Polio, Tetanus, Tularemia etc... These are diseases that we just don't see any more. Why? Because of vaccines and antibiotics.
My uncle, (now a surgeon) almost died in the 40's from a ruptured appendix. Know what saved his life? The new miracle drug that had just come on the market: Sulfa antibiotics. I haven't seen a person die from a ruptured appendix in years. Why? Because of antibiotics and surgery.
People used to die from infectious diseases all the time, and they do in the Third World as well. Yes, prevention and basic sanitation help a lot, but that's not the only answer.
Pneumonia used to be a major killer. It's not anymore. Why? Antibiotics and oxygen.
I was born with a cleft lip. I had two surgeries on my lip before I was 1 month old. My parents took me down to Honduras where they worked in a rural village running a school. People in the village were shocked that there was something that could actually fix cleft lips. There were a number of people in that village and surrounding countryside who lived decades with a cleft lip, not knowing that a surgeon could change their lives.
To say that medicine doesn't help people is absolutely absurd.