Tropical diseases

by International Eijkman Symposium on Tropical Diseases (2nd 2001 Bogor, Indonesia)

This is a subject that remains a major global concern, not only because it affects a huge part of the world population, but also because of the growing global movement of people associated with employment, tourism, and war. Recent advances in molecular biology, epitomized by the genomic revolution, have brought new promises of powerful scientific approaches to fight such diseases. The WHO's Advisory Committee on Health Research recognizes this fact in its recommendation on Genomics and World Health and stresses the need for concerted efforts by scientists in the developed world, where most of the recent advances in life sciences have occurred, and those in the tropical, mostly less developed countries, where such diseases are endemic. This book exemplifies such an effort. It covers a wide range of topics that reflect perspectives of northern and southern hemispheres. Fittingly, it defines tropical diseases in a broader-than-usual manner. For example, the book discusses traditional trop