the consequence of fear and ignorance

 

I was going to try to avoid writing about anything political this week, but I couldn't help myself. This blog is about the role storytelling plays in the practice of medicine, including the stories that describe our patients' experiences and the stories we recount as health care providers. I'm afraid the narrative is about to change, though, as we witness efforts to discontinue public health programs and dismantle medical research initiatives. Meaning that people...children...will die.

"The two public health interventions

that have had the greatest impact

on the world's health are 

clean water and vaccines."

~World Health Organization~

I've been around long enough to have celebrated the triumph of vaccination against polio, make that "paralytic polio", a disease you do not want to see, treat, or God forbid, suffer. We are already witnessing an uptick in cases globally, not because the vaccine is unavailable (yet...), but because RFK is spearheading efforts to withdraw funding from Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance, or Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) whose purpose it is to fund immunization programs in underserved populations around the world. Trouble is brewing.

Closer to home, disinformation has bred skepticism and fear. Parents are hesitant to provide their children with even routine vaccines that have been proven safe and effective for many years. We have already seen an upsurge of measles cases among the unvaccinated that have claimed the lives of three otherwise healthy children.

Count yourself fortunate if you have never watched a young polio victim struggle to use crutches, much less fight to breathe in an iron lung. We thought those days were behind us. Now, we can't be sure.

The stories we have enjoyed for years may be changing. We may be going backwards.

"Universal vaccination may well be

the greatest success story

 in medical history."

~Michael Specter~

I can tell you the story of an otherwise healthy child who came home from school one day with a headache and a slight fever...and died the next day of meningococcal meningitis. That fast. Back in the days before we had a vaccine that would have prevented it.

I can tell you what it was like to treat a child with measles encephalitis and watch them die of a totally preventable disease or suffer its consequences for the rest of their lives.

I can tell you how hard it is to intubate an infant who is struggling to breathe with whooping cough or a toddler with epiglottitis, diseases we never see in vaccinated children anymore. 

Without a doubt, the stories we tell and those our patients tell will change given the present leadership of the Department of HHS. From triumph to heartbreak. From hope to despair. From success to defeat.

Trust me: you do not want your child, or grandchild...or ANY CHILD...to suffer or die from a preventable disease. You don't want ANYONE to die of a preventable disease because of skepticism, fear, or ignorance. If you agree with me, please make your thoughts known at:

Contact Us | HHS.gov

The US Department of Health and Human Services

Hubert H. Humphrey Building

200 Independence Ave., SW

Washington, DC 20201

1-877-696-6775

"To fear what you do not understand

is to mistake ignorance for safety."

~Ginn Hale~

jan