Homework #23: Illness and Dying Book Part 2

Précis

Through his organization Partners in Health, Paul Farmer has been able to address MDR Tuberculosis in third world countries.

Quotes

“Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world...indeed, they are the only ones who ever have,’ (p. 164).

Small groups are immensely powerful and have the ability to enforce change.

“We know that things change all the time. Culture changes all the time. Advertising people force changes in culture all the time. Why can’t we do that? People in international health sit back and say, ‘Will things change for the better?’” (p.175).

Everything changes, so why can’t the medical world too?

“’Resources are always limited.’ In international health, this saying had great force. It lay behind most cost-effectiveness analyses. It often meant, ‘be realistic.’ But it was usually uttered, Kim and Farmer felt, without any recognition of how, in a given place, resources had come to be limited, as if God had imposed poverty on places like Haiti,” (p. 175).

We claim that resources are limited, but neglect to understand why.

“’It bothers me even to look at it...It can’t support eight million people, and there they are. There they are, kidnapped from West Africa,” (p. 188).

Haiti has more people than it can support, creating these dire situations.

“I was looking around in my mind for a consoling way to view the roadside sights and also, frankly, for something likely to impress Farmer...I said, ‘If you’ve done it unto the least of them, you’ve done it unto me,” (p. 185).

We all are interconnected: we suffer and enjoy together.

Thoughts

            This third of the book dealt a lot with tuberculosis and its impact on third world countries. At the beginning I thought the book would revolve mostly around Haiti and Farmer’s struggle there. Instead, by the second third, the scene switches to Peru where we shown the battle against drug resistant tuberculosis. Farmer really seems to have everyone’s best interest in mind. At the beginning I was not sure if he was going to be a character I would like, but it turns out he is actually working for the greater good. With the help of his different programs, he was able to lower the cost of many drugs, making them more available for those in third world countries, ultimately helping with disease control. He seems to be less about profit and more about innovation and getting to know the patient. Health has become a luxury in our world but it is clear that he sees it as a vital aspect of life and will do anything to ensure that everyone has it. The book is all about finding alternatives to the system. While he may use generally traditional methods, he also goes beyond the boundaries and explores overlooked areas. Unlike most doctors who work for the money, Farmer seems to really care about his patients and undermines the corrupt structure of the medical world. I am interested to see where his work brings him in the next third of the book.