• Question: What diseases/problems do you think the world should be focusing on curing/fixing?

    Asked by anon-249968 on 16 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: M S

      M S answered on 16 Mar 2020:

      I think right now its important we focus on the current corona-virus threat. But I also think we need to focus on treatments for bacterial diseases. Because of anti-microbial resistance – which means that infections we could once treat are now difficult – I think we need to find new treatments for them

    • Photo: Sophie Arthur

      Sophie Arthur answered on 16 Mar 2020:

      Right now I would say coronavirus for obvious reasons. Beyond that, it is so difficult to just say one area should be a priority as different people are affected by different conditions, and you wouldn’t like it if your teachers said you couldn’t go on a trip because you didn’t have blue eyes for example. Anti-microbial resistance is a big problem we need to find solutions too. Then there are diseases like cancer, dementia and so on which are really common that you could say we should focus on more. But there are people out there who suffer from rare diseases and they deserve answers and help just as much as anyone else.

    • Photo: Ioana Grigoras

      Ioana Grigoras answered on 17 Mar 2020:

      Hi! Considering the current situation, everyone would like the coronavirus situation to be fixed. Scientists are working on it now and we will hopefully get good news soon. The other problem that I believe should be tackled as soon as possible is climate change and figuring out ways to protect our planet as much as we can.

    • Photo: Paige Chandler

      Paige Chandler answered on 17 Mar 2020:

      This is a great question – it’s difficult to pick one. Name a disease or illness, and there’s going to be people affected by it. It’s dangerous to ignore rare illnesses, because it leaves those people feeling forgotten. Just because an illness only affects a few people, doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile working on 🙂

    • Photo: Kate Mitchell

      Kate Mitchell answered on 17 Mar 2020:

      Its a difficult problem, but poverty and economic inequality contribute to a lot of different diseases (both infectious and non-infectious), and if we could reduce those I think we’d see huge effects on all sorts of diseases. On the other hand, if we don’t reduce poverty and inequality, we may not be able to have as big an effect as we’d like on diseases.

    • Photo: Katrina Wesencraft

      Katrina Wesencraft answered on 18 Mar 2020:

      Hi Tabitha, the World Health Organisation recognises that there is a big difference in the number of people that die from curable diseases between developing and developed countries. I think it’s a huge problem and really unfair that people die from diseases that can be treated. Sometimes a medicine exists but people can’t access it due to poverty or inadequate healthcare systems and infrastructure. I think people should be trying to fix that.

    • Photo: Robyn Kiy

      Robyn Kiy answered on 18 Mar 2020:

      I agree with Mahrukh, and all of the answers from the other scientists so far!

      Climate change is something that definitely needs more attention than it is getting from the people in charge.

    • Photo: Sarah Clarke

      Sarah Clarke answered on 18 Mar 2020:

      As everyone said, the coronavirus is the priority for the whole world right now – both in terms of making a vaccine but also to make medicines to treat it.

Comments