This was made unmistakably clear in recent weeks by American Medical Association President Randolph D. Smoak Jr., MD, in an address to the World Federation of Public Health Assns. Speaking in Beijing, Dr. Smoak noted that rapid advances in transportation and communications technology had made possible a meeting that would have been impossible a few decades ago. As an example, he noted that the West Nile virus that is causing considerable concern in the New York City area most likely arrived via an international flight, perhaps carried by an infected passenger or even a stowaway mosquito. There are few shelters from this invasion, for humans or for animals.
International travel is commonplace, both for business and pleasure.
Commerce and industry recognize few borders today. The result is a challenge for the world's medical profession. An outbreak of disease in a remote area of the world can move almost unimpeded to all corners of the globe. Although much work remains, the medical profession is responding. In his Beijing address, Dr. Smoak outlined a number of initiatives that have been taken by the AMA to address the global nature of infectious disease today.