Pandemic or Not,
Addiction Deserves AttentionPeriodically we become inundated with a word or a phrase gets used and over used. The most recent of such words is pandemic! Almost every newspaper has had a front page article on the "impending pandemic." All of the evening news broadcasts lead with a story on pandemic. So I thought I would go to the dictionary and attempt to discover just what it is that is causing the stir.
According to the on line encyclopedia, Wikipedia—a pandemic is: A pandemic (from Greek) is an epidemic infectious disease that spreads through populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even worldwide. This very helpful encyclopedia then went on to provide some even greater clarity about this word.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met:
Emergence of a
disease new to a
population.
Agents infect
humans, causing serious
illness.
Agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.
A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious. For instance, cancer is responsible for many deaths but is not considered a pandemic, because the disease is not infectious or contagious.
So now you know about as much as I do about pandemic. I certainly do not want to diminish at all the devastation which has been experienced in many parts of the world and the potential devastation which may impact the U.S. An infection on the loose could be the last straw for many families and many individuals who have been impacted by the economic disaster which has also been running loose across this country.
Since the definition is pretty clear that to be a pandemic it needs to be infectious, then alcoholism does not qualify. We simply need to find another term that describes a disease that spreads easily and which devastates individuals and communities. The imminent swine flu pandemic has caused countries to close borders, countries to cancel flights to select other countries, countries to commit millions of dollars and resources to distribute vaccine throughout communities and others to close schools and to cancel large gatherings. Those are serious steps taken in response to a few reported deaths in the U.S. and other confirmed cases of the flu.
What about the over 23 million Americans who meet the criteria with substance use dependence? What about the families of those 23 million who have had their lives devastated because of this illness? It may not be a pandemic, but it sure is a crisis!
We should not take anything away from the focus, energy, resources and the seriousness of the current pandemic, but at the same time, it does beg the question of what we intend to do about the 23 million Americans who have a disease which may not be infectious, but is one which is certainly fatal. What will it take for us to increase the research dollars allocated to researching both the brain components of this disease and the best treatment approaches to the disease so that these 23 million persons have a chance at long term recovery? What will it take to make sure that we include this as a basic benefit in every health insurance plan in this country and that access to this benefit is based on the decisions of health care professions specially trained in addictive disease medicine?
Addiction may not be a pandemic,
but it is a serious problem that demands serious attention.