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The IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) has introduced
a "Special Topics" course this fall to address the growing
problem of global disease.
Entitled “International Disease,” the course is offered as part
of SPEA’s health administration program.
“This course will help students understand why HIV is not a Chinese problem
or an American problem or an African problem. It’s a global problem,”
said Allen Anderson, who teaches the course.
Since 1990, he has assisted Chinese health officials in developing
AIDS prevention programs.
Anderson researches the AIDS epidemic in China and its spread
among four groups: prostitutes, drug users, health-care workers,
and the “floating population” of 120 million Chinese who migrate
from rural areas to big cities in search of employment.
“These diseases know no national boundaries. We’re moving into a new era of disease. HIV is an example of that, SARS is another, and now maybe we’re seeing it with the avian flu in Vietnam. These diseases reach worldwide. What happens in China will eventually have an impact on us. So the sooner we start taking a global perspective on disease, the better off we’ll all be.”
Anderson explained that an international exposure is an essential component
of any health administration program. “Anyone interested in health
administration today must understand the economic, political and
social conditions behind the global spread of disease.”
Related story: HIV/AIDS conference to
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