Rx for Survival, A Global Health Challenge

In recent years, the world has faced enormous challenges in continuing what had been characterized as a "Golden Era" in global health. That era - which began in the latter half of the 19th century and peaked with the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s - included life-saving discoveries in medical science, municipal achievements such as clean water and sanitation systems, and the creation of a public health infrastructure for protecting whole populations from communicable diseases and other health threats. During this century of progress, life expectancy rose dramatically, especially in developed countries, as people simply stopped dying from diseases that had become curable. In recent decades, however, that progress has slowed dramatically.

RX FOR SURVIVAL: A GLOBAL HEALTH CHALLENGE, a six-part miniseries airing on PBS Tuesday-Thursday, November 1-3, 2005, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings), highlights public health breakthroughs and interventions that have more than doubled life expectancy in developed countries within the past century. The series also explores how lack of access to these basic interventions leaves many impoverished countries plagued by preventable diseases.

Although life expectancy remains high in the developed world, in many countries of the developing world life expectancy has actually fallen - primarily due to AIDS, but also famine and the failure to bring proven health interventions to the neediest people. The march to better world health has also been slowed by the emergence of new and potentially devastating diseases, changing natural environments, the mounting problem of drug resistance and the power of local diseases to travel across the globe. In today's global society, there is no haven from any infectious disease.

This new vulnerability is apparent even in America, where a decline in public health capacity has already opened the door to the re-emergence of tuberculosis and other older diseases. From the rise of antibiotic resistance to the tragedy of AIDS, from emergent diseases such as SARS and avian flu to lingering ones like polio, the international public health community has come to the stark realization that it must meet these new challenges more effectively to avoid compromising the progress of the last century. Although today's daunting challenges are intertwined with political and cultural obstacles as well as medical ones, it is possible to overcome these new threats. The key is to understand why we are facing these new problems so we can better identify the pathways to solving them.

"Disease Warriors" (w.t.)--Before there was an understanding of the cause of disease, protectors of public health had only careful surveillance and quarantine to fight epidemics. The first episode chronicles the groundbreaking work of 19th-century researchers, such as scientist Louis Pasteur, who discovered that germs cause illness and developed the first vaccines. Despite the progress in combating disease, the world still faces major challenges in getting basic care to those who need it and in creating new ways to combat modern nemeses such as AIDS. (11/1/05, 9:00 p.m. ET)

"Rise of the Superbugs" (w.t.)--It's difficult to imagine a world without medicines - yet before the 20th century, there weren't any. This episode chronicles the fight against new resistant bugs and the search for "magic bullets" - the wonder drugs that have become a mainstay of modern medicine. From the development of the first drug to treat syphilis to the discovery of penicillin and new classes of antibiotics, this program recounts the stunning successes of today's medicines while examining the growing dangers presented by antibiotic-resistant strains of diseases such as tuberculosis. (11/1/05, 10:00 p.m. ET)

"How Safe Are We?" (w.t.)--In the past 100 years, public health and scientific advances have more than doubled life expectancy in developed countries and increased longevity in some developing nations. However, the steady advances of the past century have been under serious assault in recent years. In the last few decades alone, 30 new infectious diseases have emerged. New diseases travel the globe with unprecedented rapidity, and older killers that seemed controllable are roaring back as current medicines lose their effectiveness. This episode examines some of the most critical and emerging threats, and the need to strengthen public health systems and leadership worldwide. (11/2/05, 9:00 p.m. ET)

"Back to the Basics" (w.t.)--Nutrient-enriched products have dramatically reduced instances of vitamin-deficiency in the United States, but such illnesses continue to plague the developing world. In addition to nutritional deficits, many people in poorer countries suffer from easily preventable diseases because they lack other basic necessities, such as clean water and sanitation. "Back to the Basics" explores the vital connection between health and these essential requirements. It also examines how America's overabundance of nutrition - in the form of overconsumption - is causing problems such as obesity and adult-onset diabetes, which are beginning to spread to the rest of the world. (11/2/05, 10:00 p.m. ET)

"Deadly Messengers" (w.t.)--Vector-borne diseases - those that rely on insects and animals to spread infectious agents - have consistently posed a threat to public health. Today, the most dangerous vector on earth is the mosquito. From malaria to yellow fever to West Nile virus, mosquito-borne diseases continue to threaten the health of millions around the world - the majority of new diseases to have surfaced in the past 25 years can be traced to the mosquito. "Deadly Messengers" recounts the stories of scientists and health workers who battled the mosquito, and examines current efforts to control mosquito and other vector-borne diseases - including the development of new vaccines to protect the world's most vulnerable populations. (11/3/05, 9:00 p.m. ET)

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