Sunday, January 28, 2007
continuing the thought
Dr. Calderon said something interesting last week in class. He compared healthcare and fighting diseases to fighting a war. This may seem obvious and redundant, but it has been lurking in my mind since then. And something has become apparent (and not to just me, as you can see in the Voice of America article Dr. Shahi posted). In the same way that we can spend billions of dollars and lose a war, we can potentially spend billions of dollars unsustainably to fight the war in public health. In both endeavors, one must be prepared with a sustainable plan that takes into consideration all the circumstances and is not based merely on ideology.
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2 comments:
I actually don't like the war analogy when it comes to health. The idea of a war whether it be to liberate a country or eradicate a disease, insinuates certain things like a predetermined end point, and a violent engagement with an enemy. While it might make intuitive sense to fight against polio for instance, we know that once the disease has been eradicated the threat is not necessarily over. Health and disease are not issues that should be fought one at a time, rather we need to find long term comprehensive sustainable solutions, which I feel are ideas that don't fit into our modern definition of warfare. Just some thoughts, what do you think?
i see what you mean. i had actually wanted to add that i didn't mean to include all the negative connotation that are associated with war. but if you take into consideration THIS war, isn't it all about "long term comprehensive sustainable solutions"? or did that have to do with an occupation rather than a war. it is pretty strange comparing something that is wholly positive with something that is so negative, but i wanted to focus on having a plan rather than just jumping into things assuming that it will work out just because you have a lot of money, whether your intentions are to occupy a country (or bring "democracy") or eradicate a disease.
chee fekr meekonee azizam? hahahah..
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