Medical Miracles and Ongoing Health Challenges

The Contemporary World and Ongoing Challenges HIST 1301 | History Medical Miracles and Ongoing Health Challenges The post-World War II era saw other technical triumphs aside from the development of computers. Five years after scientists achieved perfection in 1947, the first successful kidney transplant was carried out. Antipsychotic medications were created in the 1950s and were used to treat neurological conditions that once required individuals to get challenging care in a mental health facility for the rest of their lives. Geneticists made the important discovery of DNA's double helix structure in the 1950s, which paved the way for other developments including the use of DNA in the diagnosis and treatment of hereditary illnesses. The first successful amputation of a limb occurred in 1962, and the first human heart transplant occurred in 1967. Over the course of the following fifteen years, technological advancements allowed for the following: telemedicine, non-surgical internal organ viewing and monitoring, and foetal heartbeat monitoring. Significant progress has also been achieved by medical research in the eradication of illnesses that were prevalent for millennia. For instance, polio had been known to cause paralysis and even death since the late nineteenth century, but in 1950, children were shown to respond favourably to the first effective polio vaccine, created by the Polish-born virologist Hilary Koprowski. This live vaccination was administered orally and consisted of a weakened virus to aid in the development of antibodies by the immune system. Meanwhile, University of Pittsburgh researcher Jonas Salk was working on an injectable dead-virus vaccine. The virus was made dormant by this vaccination, but the body was still stimulated to create antibodies. After receiving approval for use in the US in 1955, Salk's vaccine was widely disseminated there. Over the following several years, other vaccinations were created in the US and other nations. Their use has almost completely eliminated polio cases, which were once in the hundreds of thousands. In July 2022, an adult in New York was found to have polio; this was the country's first incidence since 2013. The elimination of smallpox is yet another noteworthy achievement. Smallpox ravaged populations hundreds of years ago, particularly Native American tribes, who were not protected from the disease when it arrived on their beaches from European settlers. In the eighteenth century, early cowpox vaccinations were successfully introduced in both Europe and the United States. Developments over the 20th century made vaccinations safer and simpler to give. But by the 1950s, a large portion of the world was still vulnerable and unvaccinated. The World Health Organisation (WHO) started its mass vaccination campaign to eliminate smallpox in 1959 and increased it again in 1967 with the launch of the Intensified Eradication Programme. Africa, Asia, and South America all declared their smallpox eradication throughout the 1970s. The WHO announced its universal eradication in 1980. Although the WHO's smallpox programme is regarded as the greatest successful diseaseeradication effort in history, it was a vigorous effort that was difficult to duplicate. Furthermore, managing transmissible illnesses can be extremely difficult in the absence of a vaccine. among 1981, a new illness was initially discovered among the LGBT community in Los Angeles, and by 1982, it was recognised as AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Researchers found that although sharing needles and receiving blood transfusions were typical ways for transmission, sexual contact was the main mode of transmission. Although the U.S. Centres for Disease Control clarified at the time that AIDS was not spread by casual contact, the knowledge did nothing to allay growing fears around this still mostly unknown and fatal illness. Over 60,000 people have lost their lives to AIDS worldwide by 1987. The US government was sluggish to provide funding for studies aimed at curing or developing cures. Concerned about the toll AIDS was having on the gay community and the government's apparent indifference to a disease that the media portrayed as primarily affecting gay men, a group already stigmatised, activists at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Centre in New York City formed the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) that year. To raise awareness of their cause, ACT UP participated in nonviolent protests and tried to dispel myths about the illness and individuals who were afflicted with it. By the year 2000, medical professionals in the developed world had gained a thorough knowledge of HIV and AIDS, and new medicines had made the disease, at least in the developed world, more manageable than fatal. Yet infection rates continued to rise in underdeveloped nations like Sub-Saharan Africa. One issue was that homosexuality—which carried shame and, in some cases, even legal penalties—had come to be linked with HIV infection and AIDS, making individuals who were affected unwilling to seek treatment. In order to address transmission with the general public, occasionally culturally delicate subjects like sexual relations have to be brought up. In an effort to stop the disease from spreading, people frequently tried to change social and cultural norms, which is a difficult and risky endeavour. This is not to say that there were no achievements. The spread of the pandemic in Africa has been significantly curbed thanks to the widespread use of condoms, the practice of circumcision, public awareness efforts, and the decreasing cost of medical care. However, AIDS remains a huge and tragic reality for Africans in the modern world. Almost 70% of HIV-positive cases worldwide are found in SubSaharan Africa. Africa is home to 90% of infected children and 92% of all instances of pregnant women with the virus, making women and children the most impacted demographic. Africans' health has also been put at risk by the Ebola virus. The first recorded case of the hemorrhagic illness Ebola occurred in 1976 in Central Africa. There have been other epidemics since then. An outbreak in West Africa between 2013 and 2016 swiftly crossed international borders and posed a threat to the entire world. In Liberia alone, around ten thousand individuals were ill, and almost half of those who contracted the disease passed away. The COVID-19 pandemic, the most current threat to global health, exemplifies the consequences of both technical advancements and globalisation. In December 2019, the industrial and economic centre of Wuhan, China, saw the appearance of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Passengers on cruise ships and aeroplanes quickly unintentionally dispersed it over the world; the first incidence in the US was reported in January 2020. Travel prohibitions appeared, businesses shuttered, schools closed, and offices closed as illnesses were recorded from every continent. In the industrialised world, middle-class and rich individuals carried on essentially as usual in spite of these limitations. From their homes, many people worked, studied, went shopping, visited friends and family, and used online medical resources. However, when hotels and restaurants closed, low-paid workers in the service sector frequently lost their employment, and students who had access to computers or reliable internet connections found it difficult to keep up in class. Even those who were luckier in the developed world had shortages of everything from baby formula to toilet paper as global supply chains came to a standstill due to sick personnel on farms, factories, docks, and railroads, or workplace closures to stop the spread of infection. Developing nations lacked the resources to help their people during protracted unemployment. Despite being created in several countries, vaccinations were mostly accessible to those in affluent nations. Just 1% of vaccination doses delivered globally as of March 2022 had gone to individuals living in low-income nations.