Ninety percent of AIDS victims live in the developing world. AIDS leaves a wake of socio-economic problems, including 9 million orphans to date. In wealthy countries, childhood ailments usually mean no more than a few days out of school and a dose of antibiotics. Among malnourished youngsters living with poor sanitation, they become mass killers. Some 2.4 million children under 5 die of common childhood disease each year.
Cures often are cheaper than a candy bar.
Diphtheria, preventable with vaccine and curable, can kill if left untreated. In the United States, the red-spotted sickness was almost extinct by 1983, though recent neglect of vaccination worries health officials. A vaccine-resistant strain might be emerging. Neonatal tetanus ends the lives of about 500,000 babies each year. With immunization programs, deaths from tetanus could cease by the year 2000.