"World Health" by Joanna Roberts

Recently, the media has been focusing on the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS - a new viral disease, a potentially life threatening form of pneumonia, which appears to be easily communicable. The most recent reports show that 3,800 cases of SARS have been diagnosed in twenty-five countries and that 200 people have died from the virus, primarily in China where it has already spread too far to be quickly eradicated. It is extremely unfortunate that the Chinese government apparently hid much of the information about the epidemic, preventing health care workers from preparing adequately for the outbreaks. To add to the problem, SARS has been spreading in the Chinese countryside where health care is underdeveloped. However, it seems that a great majority of patients recover from the virus.

The World Health Organization, a U.N. specialized agency, has organized teams of experts to help control the epidemic in the affected countries. Although they are lacking the money, staff and resources needed to conduct all the desired research, they have been able to reach initial conclusions about the causes of the virus. More than fifteen pharmaceutical companies have met with U.S. government officials to explore ways to help develop new vaccines and test the effectiveness of existing medicines.

Another potentially fatal disease, Human African Trypanosomiasis (also known as Sleeping Sickness), affects 500,000 children, women and men on the African Continent and threatens sixty million people in thirty-six African countries, yet it is one of the top five neglected diseases in the world. Presently, major epidemics of Sleeping Sickness are devastating the countries of Central Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo, Angola, Sudan and Ethiopia. It is transmitted to humans by the tsetse fly - a parasite that can cause fever, weakness, joint pain, stiffness, madness, seizures, coma and death. Once someone is infected with the illness, he becomes a carrier; if he is then bitten by a tsetse fly, it is likely that the fly will infect the next person it bites. Most victims have no access to health care, and morbidity rates in some villages reach as high as fifty percent.

Ironically, Sleeping Sickness is a completely curable disease. Western pharmaceutical companies have had the cure in their possession since the 1970's, but they have not made it accessible to the African people. The active ingredient in this drug was reintroduced in 2001 in a women's vanity product for removing facial hair. When confronted about why the medicine was not being offered to the people of Africa, representatives from the major companies claimed that it would be useless. There is a strict schedule that one needs to follow in order for the medicine to be effective, and "the African people can't tell time." It is possible that the person who made this absurd and ignorant statement actually believed in what he said, but in my opinion, the true reason that the companies refused to save thousands of lives was to save thousands of dollars.

After many joint international efforts, Aventis Pharmaceutical Company and Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Inc. finally reached an agreement to give the drug free of charge to the sufferers of Sleeping Sickness for five years. This is a great advancement, but a long-term plan has yet to be established. Furthermore, the drugs are not available everywhere they are needed, and doctors lack the resources to identify the infected patients and administer the drug.

Why do we have to refer to Sleeping Sickness as a neglected disease? It could be because the major industrial nations of the world have little to no contact with Central Africa. After all, Central Africa is certainly not your average tourist destination, meaning that it is highly unlikely for Sleeping Sickness to spread to other areas of the world. Also, industry and commerce are not influenced by what goes on there. However, the business world at large is clearly invested in China, and travel between East Asia and the Western Hemisphere is common. The battle against SARS and the movement to develop a cure for it is obviously crucial. It is also crucial that we open our eyes to diseases that don't affect us, but that are shaping the existence of a people just as human as we are. Two years ago, a class of third graders with an unbelievable sense of justice and world citizenship at Chatsworth Elementary School organized an official branch of the World Health Organization under the leadership of their teacher. The creation of Kids for World Health was originally inspired by a CBS "60 Minutes" show about Sleeping Sickness that moved the students to action. Being so perceptive and insightful, they realized that "life is important for all people of the world, rich or poor," a statement that became their motto in their fight to eliminate the disease.

If eight-year olds are aware and awake enough to say, "We can't tolerate the neglect of fellow human beings," our nation rich enough in power and resources to make serious contributions to our world should wake up too. We need to step outside ourselves and see ourselves as part of something greater than just us. Our sympathy, concern and compassion should reach farther than where it will directly affect us.