Week 3

Video: Epidemics and Pandemics
"Early detection, early response" says Larry Brilliant is the key to the world's control of pandemics. His experience and success eradicating Smallpox sheds light on the possibilities of the eradication of Polio and containment of Bird Flu...

Just some other thoughts that came about during the video: What about the eradication of HIV/AIDS in the future? It is difficult to get communities involved in health care issues, especially when it goes against their beliefs, as he talked about cases in India. By using the rewards they gave as incentives, the community was encouraged to report cases of Smallpox, and it was only until then that a good handle on the disease could be attained. If an organization is created/improved that is large enough or strong enough to implement part of the same framework and put it to use for HIV/AIDS detection, the possibility of its eradication may not be so unattainable. I am aware of confidentiality laws, especially in the United States that some could argue would be breeched by giving incentives to disclose HIV/AIDS status... Not only does work have to be done to change the stigma attached to this disease, but health care professionals could benefit from working with the law to implement changes that would work towards the containment and eventual eradication of it.

Video: AIDS Orphans
I spent last year working for the only non-profit foster care agency in Houston, TX that never turns away an HIV+ or HIV exposed child... and this hit so close to home. I broke out in tears the second the video ended. This is so sad, and so true. It is sometimes overwhelming to watch something like this and not know what one can do about it. I have seen and lived the sadness that comes from homes that have been torn apart by HIV and AIDS... I came close to adopting the most precious child you could ever see, hug, or love who just so happened to have vertically contracted HIV... but then I realized that although I could possibly change her life for the better (and not without challenges) my life's road trip would not lead me to where I had always envisioned, so instead, I detoured to this Public Health program and am now a hopeful, and perhaps naive student that has a deep desire to promote change... but I know that I have "one life", a healthy, privileged, motivated life that I can use to make a substanitial imapct on the world... I just need the tools to guide me.

If you haven't already, please watch this... and let’s do something! World Vision: AIDS Orphans

Case Study: Avian Flu
The first time I heard of the Bird Flu, I was terrified… It was 2 years ago during my senior year in college. I read an article online on MSNBC and showed up to my Senior Seminar in Peace Studies eager to talk about it… My very knowledgeable professor stopped me in my tracks, telling me there was no need to worry since there was, at the time, no known evidence of human-to-human transmission. Although his statement had some truth behind it, my professor’s remarks did not put me at ease. Experts agree that human to human transmission is likely to break out and cause devastating effects around the world. As a concerned, and sometimes overly paranoid citizen, the idea of a Bird Flu pandemic still terrifies me… as a future public health professional, I am alarmed yet hopeful that once the virus mutates we will take the appropriate actions (Early detection and Early response as Larry Brilliant told us) to ensure the best possible reaction to a possibly catastrophic pandemic.