Fighting the Battle Against Infectious Diseases: Contributions of Selected Social Science Disciplines

In spite of the “epidemiological transition”, infectious diseases remain as major threats to the health and well-being of human populations. Social factors are related to the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. However, except for diseases which are more obviously social in their origin and patterns of spread (e.g. sexually-transmitted and blood-borne infections such as HIV/AIDS), social scientists are less prominent in the battle against infectious diseases vis-à-vis their counterparts from the natural sciences. Sociologists and other social scientists from disciplines such as history, political science, economics, anthropology and mass communications can contribute significantly to the battle against infectious disease outbreaks.