If we fail to act by Paul Farmer, M.D.
(Union Medal Acceptance Speech, December 6, 2006) Notre Dame Magazine, August 2006
As a physician who has battled infectious diseases in Haiti, Rwanda and elsewhere, I know we are in the midst of a staggering wave of killing, one that brings to question all notions of moral values. The numbers alone are telling. Even if we consider only the big three infectious killers -- AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- we are faced with tens of millions of preventable deaths slated to occur during our lifetimes. A recent document from the United Nations suggests, for example, that more than 80 million Africans might die from AIDS alone by 2025. A similar toll will be taken, on that continent, by tuberculosis and malaria. Adding other infectious killers to the list, the butcher's bill totals hundreds of millions of deaths over the next few decades...Read article at http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/au2006/farmer.html
As a physician who has battled infectious diseases in Haiti, Rwanda and elsewhere, I know we are in the midst of a staggering wave of killing, one that brings to question all notions of moral values. The numbers alone are telling. Even if we consider only the big three infectious killers -- AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- we are faced with tens of millions of preventable deaths slated to occur during our lifetimes. A recent document from the United Nations suggests, for example, that more than 80 million Africans might die from AIDS alone by 2025. A similar toll will be taken, on that continent, by tuberculosis and malaria. Adding other infectious killers to the list, the butcher's bill totals hundreds of millions of deaths over the next few decades...Read article at http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/au2006/farmer.html
Paul Farmer is founding director of Partners In Health http://www.pih.org, an international charity organization that provides direct health-care services and undertakes research and advocacy on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. He is also a professor of medical anthropology at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Photo by Michelle Karshan, copyright 2002. International Conference on Health and Human Rights held at Zanmi Lasante hospital and health center in Haiti's Central Plateau, organized by Partners in Health and Paul Farmer, M.D.
