Topic outline

  • Disease in developing countries

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    This course aims to provide you with the opportunity to find out about health in a particular country, or region, and about major disease categories facing populations in the world.  After completion of this section, you should be able to:

    • assess the global burden and patterns of diseases in different countries and how they are changing over time
    • identify some of the challenges in the prevention and control of major communicable and non-communicable diseases in resources limited settings

    When considering the Public Health aspects of an disease, we usually try to explore the burden of the disease on the population, the causes (by understanding the epidemiology and social and cultural determinants) and the evidence base to allow treatment and prevention and control that will reduce the burden of disease. In this introduction to disease in developing countries, we can only briefly touch on some of these aspects, and have chosen to explore in this section issues relating to the burden of disease and some aspects of prevention and control; we will not be discussing treatment options.

    Prevention and control. Right at the start of this section, it is worth thinking about global control and prevention programs, and the most well known global initiatives are the Sustainable Development Goals which replaced the widely acclaimed Millennium Development Goals (the UN site Millennium Development Goals 2015 and beyond is still available as a gateway to information about the MDGs). Many of the SDGs have a health component.

    How to navigate the course. Click on the hyperlinks to access the various parts of the course. You will find links to a number of relevant readings in the sections marked resources. You are also invited to reflect on the issues identified in the presentations (click on the reflection link - you will then be able to see reflections of previous students and will receive email copies of those who post a reflection after you).

    Earn a certificate.There is a quiz in the final section of the course - if you pass the Quiz, and access the Resources in each section, and post your reflections, you will earn a certificate.

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    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

    Note: For this course, we have chosen five key health issues facing low- to middle-income countries, although there are many more health problems facing these countries. We are also only providing a snapshot of the problems - you will find more depth in other of our courses.

  • Global burden of disease

    After completing this section, you should be able to access resources to allow you to explore the burden of disease in developing countries

  • Communicable diseases

    After completing this section, you should be able to appreciate some of the major features of communicable disease in developing countries and some of the methods for prevention and control

  • Non-Communicable Diseases

    After completing this section, you should be able to appreciate some of the major features of non-communicable disease in developing countries and some of the methods for prevention and control

  • Neglected Tropical Diseases

    After completing this section, you should be able to appreciate the existence of a group of diseases categorised as Neglected Tropical Diseases, and the extent of the burden on the population

  • Injury

    After completing this section, you should be able to appreciate the burden and causes of injury in developing countries and some of the methods for prevention and control

  • Mental Illness

    After completing this section, you should be able to appreciate the threats to mental health and the burden of disease in developing countries

  • Finally: Reflect, Feedback, and Gain a Certificate

    At the end of the course, please reflect on the overall lessons you have learned that may be of use.

    If you have explored the resources in each section and completed the quizz, you are eligible to gain a certificate - click on the Certificate logo below.