Public Health in Ghana, per Obama

DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN · Jul 12, 2009

The government can provide each person with health insurance and it will mean nothing if any of these infectious dieases in the third world becomes a public health problem in the US. I repeat it is in our own best interest to help fight infectious disease in Africa.

Agreed.

As someone else said... the same people who are against using this money abroad are the same people who would be against it being used to "insure" people who need it.

SharonH, RN · Jul 12, 2009

The government can provide each person with health insurance and it will mean nothing if any of these infectious dieases in the third world becomes a public health problem in the US. I repeat it is in our own best interest to help fight infectious disease in Africa.

Precisely. We do not live in a vacuum. Think about TB. We actually thought we had eradicated the disease until the mid 80s when the emergence of HIV/AIDS + immigration from affected countries combined for a resurgence in the disease, heck it came back bigger and badder than ever with MDR TB.

rph3664 · Jul 12, 2009

The Gates Foundation is already doing a lot of work in this regard, especially concerning polio eradication.

I wonder what period of time this $60 billion will encompass, and will it be used for direct patient care, or research, or providing the president and his entourage with luxury vehicles and the like?

:icon_roll

keithjones · Jul 12, 2009

it usually pays for vaccines which are shipped overseas, taken by corrupt people within the government and sold for 10 times what it was purchased for and the people continue to die. if there are 6 billion people in the world you could mass produce vaccines reducing the cost and $10 a person should innoculate everyone! to bad it doesn't work that way!

AmaurosisFugax · Jul 12, 2009

There are many African people who travel all over the world including the United States every year, so if we don't fight infectious diseases in Africa, they will eventually spread to America. Think of it as preventative care for you and your family.

Let's see, unlikely malaria will become a public health problem here since the host, Anopheles mosquito, is not indigenous to the US. Polio has been eradicated in even most Third World countries, the reason in persists is largely d/t superstitious resistance to vaccination & in certain countries, the dangerous but widespread belief among some religious minorities that the polio vaccine is a way to sterilize their children. At any rate few cases of these 2 diseases have occurred in the Western world, despite huge immigration from India & SE Asia in the US & from Africa in Western Europe during the last 30-40 years. Cholera is largely d/t poor hygenic practices, people bathing in the same pond or eating fly-infested unclean food, again unlikely scenarios in the US. And it is rare other than places like refugee camps anyway. HIV - despite the ballyhoo in the 80's & 90's that there will be corpses in the street & it will spread among heterosexuals like wildfire, that didn't happen in the Western world. TB, there have been some cases in the West but very small compared to Asia & Africa & often among the poor & those who traveled to endemic countries. Unlikely any of these diseases will become an epidemic in the US despite globalization & immigration.

And further much of the aid doesn't reach the people but enriches the corrupt ruling elite...

Given this scenario, it may be harsh, but not entirely illogical, to say "it is not our immediate problem".

noni06 · Jul 12, 2009

Let's see, unlikely malaria will become a public health problem here since the host, Anopheles mosquito, is not indigenous to the US. Polio has been eradicated in even most Third World countries, the reason in persists is largely d/t superstitious resistance to vaccination & in certain countries, the dangerous but widespread belief among some religious minorities that the polio vaccine is a way to sterilize their children. At any rate few cases of these 2 diseases have occurred in the Western world, despite huge immigration from India & SE Asia in the US & from Africa in Western Europe during the last 30-40 years. Cholera is largely d/t poor hygenic practices, people bathing in the same pond or eating fly-infested unclean food, again unlikely scenarios in the US. And it is rare other than places like refugee camps anyway. HIV - despite the ballyhoo in the 80's & 90's that there will be corpses in the street & it will spread among heterosexuals like wildfire, that didn't happen in the Western world. TB, there have been some cases in the West but very small compared to Asia & Africa & often among the poor & those who
traveled to endemic countries. Unlikely any of these diseases will become an epidemic in the US despite globalization & immigration.
And further much of the aid doesn't reach the people but enriches the corrupt ruling elite...
Given this scenario, it may be harsh, but not entirely illogical, to say "it is not our immediate problem".

One word "Swine Flu". Swine flu originated from unhygienic pig farm practices in Mexico, but guess what, it was brought back to the US by people (not poor people) vacationing in Mexico. I know for a fact that that's how it spread to New York City. A bunch of students from my sister's private high school travelled to Mexico and broght back swan flu and they spread it to other schools attended by their siblings. The US is not protected from the spread of infections disease from other countries just because we have better hygiene practices.

I agree with you about the money not getting to the people who need it because of wide spread corruption in third world countries. I think it's a shame and I wish there was a way to stop corruption in theses countries.

neatnurse30 · Jul 13, 2009

Obama will ruin this country, I don't understand who in their right mind was voting for him. He is a socialist and thinks like a communist. What a big mistake he is. But that's just my opinion.

anononurse · Jul 13, 2009

Sadly, I don't think this country will realize what a mistake they've made in voting for Obama until it's too late.

Vito Andolini · Jul 13, 2009

We've been sending that much and more for years now. The money is probably a drop in the bucket here, but can do tremendous good in such a needy place as sub-saharan Africa. I don't like huge deficits either, but I find the moral argument for such help compelling. Obviously not everyone here agrees.

I think that much money is not just a drop in a bucket anywhere, here or abroad. it is a huge amount of money and don't forget whose money it is - yours and mine. The workers of America supposedly earn it and own it, and our leaders figure out what to do with it. Do we help our own nation or do we spend it abroad? I am not pro anyone suffering. We do all have a moral obligation to help our fellow man. But we have such serious troubles right here and I think we should start here. Also, I don't think a permanent cure will ever be found for some diseases, as the microorganisms that cause them keep figuring out how to mutate and survive. I guess we should keep trying how to beat malaria, TB, HIV, etc. It's just a perpetual fight, as the organisms keep outsmarting mankind's efforts to destroy them.

Why is sub-Saharan Africa so needy? Why? Really think about it and tell me why. Especially if we have been sending drops in buckets for a long, long time, why are we not seeing improvement? Or are we? I admit total ignorance on this and would appreciate any info that someone might have.

If Israel could make a desert bloom, why can't other people make their deserts bloom? Not to start a big Israel thing but do you see the desert thing?

Vito Andolini · Jul 13, 2009

I think everyone understands how important it is to help, I just think a lot of us are finding it hard to swallow as we watch loved ones (such as my Master's Degree level mother and recent layoff victim) struggle to get basic healthcare. I know it has caused me to turn a much less patient ear.
Tait

USA Today had an article on how those in a particular village in Mexico are suffering because their relatives who are working illegally in America are not sending them as much money as they used to, due to downturns in construction here in America.

It made me angry. Yes, I understand how tough life can be and i want no one tosuffer but this article made me angry. Illegal immigrants work and work hard, at mostly menial jobs. They live in far less than luxury and are able to send lots of money home to their families, who are dependent upon that money. But meanwhile, their children are getting free education, they are all getting free health care (at least, they used to and maybe still do), they are getting WIC and food stamps, TANF, and whatever other welfare they are "entitled " to by virtue of their income or lack thereof. meanwhile, citizens like you and I are working and being taxed on our earnings and those earnings are going to the illegals and their families. Something is wrong. Everybody has to live, I understand. But something is wrong with this scenario.

Vito Andolini · Jul 13, 2009

The government can provide each person with health insurance and it will mean nothing if any of these infectious dieases in the third world becomes a public health problem in the US. I repeat it is in our own best interest to help fight infectious disease in Africa.

I'm sure we get something in exchange. What is it? What does Ghana have that we want? Minerals probably. Read Michael Crichton's "Congo". Fascinating and informative, pertinent to this discussion perhaps.

Vito Andolini · Jul 13, 2009

The Gates Foundation is already doing a lot of work in this regard, especially concerning polio eradication.
I wonder what period of time this $60 billion will encompass, and will it be used for direct patient care, or research, or providing the president and his entourage with luxury vehicles and the like?
:icon_roll

Probably so-called research and the last items you said. Cynical me. :icon_roll:devil::angryfire