Mankind, Disease and Technology: A Cat, Mouse and Fiddle Game

Abstract

Mankind has been playing a cat and mouse game with diseases almost from the start of human civilization. Sometimes we have had a resounding victory, but sometimes disease has won, nearly wiping out populations in its path. Be it plague, polio, smallpox, cholera or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) all have left an indelible impression on humans. Just as in warfare, all these diseases have been controlled by essentially being one step ahead of them. Hence the fiddle or third factor has been technology, which could help us win this crucial time race.