Epidemiological Transition

Basics

• A Theory in Social Sciences and Public Health on how Epedemiology (ie causes of illness/mortalities) changes over time in a society
• Essentially:
  • First societies are limited by food supply (dispersed hunter gatherers) and “basic” illnesses related to WASH | Sanitation]] more than anything
  • As agriculture and civilization emerge, Food Supply became stable (with some exceptions in terms of Nutrition with Vitamins/Food Quality and such)
  • Then you have the next age which is the “Age of Declining Pandemics”, think Disease Eradication and Public Health Policies / WASH Rollout
    • So Vaccination (Polio, Measles, Huge List), Clean Drinking Water + Sanitation (Cholera, Parasites like Guinea Worm and Tapeworms), Vector Control (Malaria), and focus on Vitamins for things like Iodine
  • Finally you have where (most of…) the world is today, “ The Age of Degenerative and Man-Made Diseases” where the body wearing down, or also Pollution is one of the major Limiting Factors (Think Cancer, Organ Failure, and Alzheimer’s/Dementia )
  • Others have proposed more “stages”, “ The Age of Aspired Quality of Life with Persistent Inequalities” being especially apt due to Healthcare Disparities and Economic Inequality / Environmental Inequality being major indicators

Internal Links

• History of Medicine / History of Public Health
• UN Sustainable Development Goals
• WASH

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Epidemiological Transition