Living In Emergency: Doctors Without Borders All over the world, nations that have succumbed to their war-torn or underprivileged circumstances with awfully limited hospitals and an abundance of their citizens have never seen a doctor in their life. This film, directed by Mark Hopkins, focuses on the stories of four specialists that work within Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) and go into regions, similar to ones previously described, that are in dire need of medical assistance. Specifically the film focuses on areas of the Congo, currently a conflict zone, and Liberia, a nation that was torn apart by a 15 year Civil War. These four MSF doctors struggle to provide the demanding medical attention due to their frustrations, …show more content…
No country is the same even though some nations have similarities. A lack of healthcare in other regions is deliberated but rarely tackled when compared to other issues of the world. Most people allow the issue of public health to fade into the background, leaving it unsolved. That is the problem and it is only going to worsen. These regions call for the same amount of medical attention that is available in other parts of the world. The film demonstrates this issue by providing actual events to show how different the healthcare is in other regions. This difference needs to be shown because as portrayed in the film, in order to be somewhat solved the conditions and medical matters require attention by others in the international community. The lack of attention results in the ongoing situations like Liberia, Congo, Darfur, Sri Lanka, and other places all over the …show more content…
Progression in global health has been shown through increased health funding but it is not enough. There is always a lack of supplies, vaccines, attention, etc. for these medical issues in regions that cannot provide for themselves. The doctors and volunteers come from nations that have the required medical tools but they are forced to work under the conditions of these impoverished states. For example, in the film the doctor David Gill based in Foya, tries to communicate he needs help and supplies but that does not get a response. He has to reuse gloves, sometimes not even use gloves, and dressing necessary for cases are not available. Lack of the necessary medical tools that the doctors are used to in their home countries and are forced to use low-grade medicine to compromise, making them not as good as they could be. Aiding the less fortunate nations, “cannot simply be left for a better day” (Farmer
...victims of war and genocide, it is admirable to see his courage to remain engaged in service to his fellow human. With a bold, yet pragmatic vision, Orbinski is unconcerned with seemingly intractable problems of finding drugs for the poorest AIDS victims. The book illustrates his desire to get the job done without bravado and grand statements. Although the book was painful to read, it takes he reader to the extreme of human suffering. Nevertheless, it also inspires with its reflections of humanitarianism and the ingenuity brought to its implementation. It is heartening to know James Orbinski can inspire students in both the arts and sciences as they set out on their careers. Since after all he’s seen, Orbinski remain optimistic, not cynical, and committed to action. Do give this book to any students in your life, after you have read it yourself.
In conclusion, the ultimate significance to this type of work is to improve the quality of healthcare in these extremely impoverished nations. This argument is represented in Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, Monte Leach’s “Ensuring Health Care as a Global Human Right”, and Darshark Sanghavi’s “Is it Cost Effective to Treat the World’s Poor.” The idea that universal healthcare is a human right is argued against in Michael F. Cannon’s “A “Right” to health care?” Cannon claims that it would not work, and fills the holes that the other authors leave in their arguments. All of these articles share the same ultimate goal, and that is to provide every individual with adequate health care, and to not let so many people die from things that could easily have been prevented or treated.
Marriage is usually considered as a tie between two individuals who love each other, but Elizabeth Joseph in the article “Polygamy - the Ultimate Feminist Lifestyle” introduced an interesting alternative for an individual who wants a person to be their spouse regardless of their marriage status. She also presents polygamy as an effective option for modern independent women to maximize their time between their career and family life. However, Joseph, as a journalist and an attorney, only mentioned the benefits of polygamy without the cons that follows it. She also admits in practicing polygamy herself. Through this we can reveal that she is not a reliable source to show that polygamy is the “ultimate lifestyle” because she is clearly biased
While the moral backing for public health in its current state may be sound, what many researchers fail to understand is that the many moral failings of its predecessors that color the legacy of public health internationally and at home. As discussed in the chapter “Colonial Medicine and its Legacies” within the textbook Reimagining Global Health arranged by Paul Farmer, before the conception of global health there was international health which sought to distribute health as a good horizontally across international, political lines. Under the framework of international health, public health workers became agents of a cold war enmeshed in the fiscal, geopolitical, and territorial struggles between two hegemons rather than the holistic value of community health. While international health as a framework has largely been abandoned, much of its rhetoric can be found within our current framework of public health such as the enumeration of certain parts of the world as "1st world", "2nd world",
All four countries are undergoing an epidemiologic transition as treatment and control of infectious diseases continues to improve. However, the major issues that affect each country and how the country has responded to their problems are vastly different. It is funny, but in the midst of writing this reflection, I somehow found myself in a conversation with someone who was horrified by the quality of healthcare in “third world” countries. This assumption that poor countries have horrendous quality of healthcare is not uncommon. Fortunately, these assumptions are wrong. Though developing countries are facing the unique problem of operating a healthcare system in an environment with inadequate resources and public health infrastructures, they have managed to develop incredible solutions. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a combination international and national interventions has been so successful that these countries have the highest percentage of ART coverage in any low-to-middle-income countries (Garcia et al., 2014). Cuba’s WHO health ranking is 39, approximately the same as the U.S. and achieved at a fraction of the price. As countries shift into the third epidemiologic transition, many of the basic systems for obtaining medications and seeing health care professionals are already in place. These four have taken the first important step and declared that healthcare is a right for all, something that even the U.S. has failed to do. Though they must continue building upon their current infrastructure, they have the advantage of hindsight and seeing what has worked in other countries. As we have seen during our study of the U.S. and other OECD countries, there is no one perfect health system. However, I am confident that the health systems that emerge from these developing countries will be one that works for the
According to World Health Organization, the statics show that: - The world needs 17 million more health workers, especially in Africa and South East Asia. - African Region bore the highest burden with almost two thirds of the global maternal deaths in 2015 - In Sub-Saharn Africa, 1 child in 12 dies before his or her 5th birthday - Teenage girls, sex workers and intravenous drug users are mong those left behind by the global HIV response - TB occurs with 9.6 million new cases in 2014 - In 2014, at least 1.7 billion people needed interventions against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) (“Global Health Observatory data”, n.d.) B. A quote of Miss Emmeline Stuart, published in the article in
Reid, T.R. "Watch Now: FRONTLINE | Sick Around the World | PBS Video." PBS Video. April 15, 2008. Accessed November 10, 2014.
... is much more difficult for me to be able to relate to the lives of the people shown in My Flesh and Blood. Conversely, I have had numerous encounters with North American and African (South Africa and Malawi) health care systems, thus allowing me to better relate to the stories within SiCKO. Having observed health care processes and conditions that run from one of the best (Canada) to one of the least resourced and funded (Malawi), I am able to understand many of the flaws pointed out by Moore in his film, as well as possessing my own perspective of what I would consider to be a poor health care system. Additionally, as one who consistently enjoys debating various topics, I am given a much greater opportunity to do so through the film SiCKO compared to My Flesh and Blood, likely reflecting my stronger emotional attachment to Moore’s film and the effect it had on me.
In the hauntingly true account of one man trying to save the lives of millions, Tracy Kidder depicts the never ending struggle of physician-anthropologist Paul Farmer in the truest way he can. Mountains Beyond Mountains does not hide any facts, it does not cover the truth, nor does it emphasize the good. Tracy Kidder tells of Farmer's struggles to balance his love for Haitians with his need to save humankind from Tuberculosis and related diseases, and in effect exposes readers to the necessity of giving those impoverished decent health care and living conditions. In writing Mountains Beyond Mountains, Kidder not only recounts the life and career of a world-renowned doctor, but he also informs an ignorant population of the degree of neglect that many underdeveloped nations face. Kidder argues that though Farmer tried to change the health of impoverished
Doctors Without Borders work in war zones, places where natural disasters have occurred, where populations have displaced or where hunger and epidemics have increased. Specifically, they work in 80 countries worldwide, in Europe, Africa, and in America (particularly in South America). They choose these places because that is where their help is particularly needed, so their action is not biased in any kind of way. The MSF is prompt to answer to any emergency around the world – it takes about 48 hours or less to reach the country in which they are needed (the trip will depend on the distance and the weather), and the medical machineries will get to the country in about 72 hours. Astutely, every MSF is provided with a pre-packed disaster kit,
In my high school Philosophy class, the teacher recounted a story of a doctor who visited a remote village in Africa in order to provide medical services to those in need, and happened to witness a story of certain value. Here is a brief summary, as I remember it.
“If you look at the human condition today, not everyone is well fed, has access to good medical care, or the physical basics that provide for a healthy and a happy life.” This quote by Ralph Merkle shows that something so easily taken for granted is healthcare. Most of us wouldn’t even think about it as a privilege, something that has just always been there and always will. In America, we would never even imagine not being able to receive medical care in our times of need, in other countries that is not at all the case. Many will die from easily preventable and treatable diseases because they do not have medical care. The charity Doctors of the World is committed to helping those who do not have easy access to medical care
London, England. The.. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine n.d., Session 5: The role of the state. in global health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, England. Ricci J.
Preventing diseases is every countries’ responsibility, whether they are poor or rich. Poor countries lack the knowledge and the money to gain, and expand medical resources. Therefore, many people are not been able to be cured. For wealthy countries, diseases are mutating at incredible speeds. Patients are dying because drug companies do not have enough data to produce vaccines to cure patients. When developed countries help poor countries to cure their people, the developed countries could help underdeveloped countries. Since developed countries can provide greater medical resources to poor countries, people living in the poor countries could be cured. As for the developed countries, they can collect samples from the patients so that the drug companies can produce new vaccines for new diseases. When trying to cure diseases, developed countries and poor countries would have mu...
... diseases such as AIDS are also becoming a problem in places like Africa. Knowledge of how to prevent these diseases is not widely known, so an increasing number of people are infected. More attention needs to be placed on adequate health care and technology in these countries. While these third world societies may not have the resources with which to implement these changes, more advanced societies certainly do.