Foreign Policy Magazine published an article on infectious diseases by CGD Deputy Director for Global Health Programs Rachel Nugent in thier October, 2008 issue.
From the article:
"How can we be working harder than ever against these ailments but making so little headway? Because the microbes we are fighting are adapting faster than we are. The drugs used to treat many diseases in the developing world are becoming less effective at killing the viruses, bacteria, and parasites that cause illness. Microbes are constantly evolving organisms, and many are proving to be impervious to the drugs designed to combat them. Hardy viruses, capable of mutating faster than we can kill them, can wipe out years of research and millions of dollars spent on drug development. And as resistant strains of disease are born, new drugs must be developed that can successfully attack the mutated form of the disease, creating a vicious cycle of infection-treatment-mutation. Too often, the labors of drug companies and the international health community lag far behind the speed with which diseases evolve. Add to the problem weak and unresponsive health systems, drug makers uninterested in products for poor customers, and dangerous fake drugs, and our well-intended billions in health aid don’t stand a chance against the next generation of mutating microbes."
Read the article (subscription required)