After class yesterday I kept thinking about how much money has gone into the war in Iraq (as mentioned by someone in class during discussion) and how the attention the threat of avian flu has gotten has paled in comparison. As I opened my browser this morning I noticed that Bush plans to invest additional billions of dollars into Afghanistan and thought to myself again... what about the pandemic that the WHO, MARSH, TED Talks, and so many other health officials/agencies are warning us about. The mutation of the H5N1 virus seems inevitable, but the disastrous events may be minimized if we are well prepared for it when and if it comes. We need to educate the public about the threat and give the possible pandemic the attention it deserves in the media by providing current and correct information. By limiting the misinformation out there, and increasing the awareness of the threat, people may be more responsive when the need for a control measure becomes necessary in the event of a pandemic.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It seems that the American people only respond to threats when they become a reality. Perhaps the long-held belief in the American dream does not include such disasters. It would appear that people simply believe that the researchers will come up with a vaccine like we have for new strains of flu every year. We are a complacent people. The threat of terrorism become real on 9/11, and the people have reacted to this—thus, a build up of troops and money for fighting terrorism. The only way I see for America to wake up is for people, who are informed to actively protest and/or write to their senators and representatives. This concept is anathema to the Republicans; they would fight it to the death. It would seem that the American Public Health Association would be on top of this by advocating government monies for dispensing the proper information to the public and for urging the government to allocate the monies.
Post a Comment