Re: SARS: Strategies

From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Apr 25 2003 - 22:25:30 MDT

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    --- Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote:
    > Just some stray thoughts: SARS is not a civilization-killer or
    > anything, just a *potential* pandemic.

    Worste case: 60 million deaths worldwide, according to the Global
    Health Council.

    > But it has a huge impact beyond the number of infected cases in
    > terms of economic loss, political turmoil (the Economist had some
    > interesting kremlology on how China has handled it) and widespread
    > fear - these memetic effects are likely far more expensive and
    > troublesome than the disease itself would ever be (in an
    > economic sense; every lost life is of course a tragedy without
    > compare).

    If you consider the potential costs of treating AIDS patients over the
    next ten years, and if SARS starts primarily killing the AIDS infected,
    then SARS could potentially be an unintended and horrific economic
    boon.

    It is just starting to show up in African nations. I think that most of
    the millions that the GHC predicts to succumb will be the AIDS infected
    in Africa.

    =====
    Mike Lorrey
    "Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                                                         - Gen. John Stark
    "Pacifists are Objectively Pro-Fascist." - George Orwell
    "Treason doth never Prosper. What is the Reason?
    For if it Prosper, none Dare call it Treason..." - Ovid

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