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A complex interplay between ill health, economic and political factors links infection rates and the risk of armed conflict, and infectious diseases are thought to influence the onset or 'pathogenesis' of wars in the developing world (
Broder et al., 2002). No charity-driven health aid alone can fundamentally alter this picture. Disease-endemic countries have to take centre stage in the fight against war and ill health to foster their own development. Truly democratic regimens that empower people have to be built; they cannot be imported or donated (
United Nations Development Programme, 2002). In turn, developed economies have to move beyond traditional development aid or the support of scattered health partnerships; these mechanisms may appease consciences, but they are no substitute for fair commercial trade and sound economic policies. The task of coping with the immense toll that infectious and parasitic diseases inflict on the developing world has, therefore, to be seen as our common responsibility and a challenge that must not be neglected.
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