Well this sure sounds familiar: A member of the Bush administration blocked a report because it failed to adhere to the administration’s political goals. The topic of the report? Global health. The conclusion? That poverty leads to poor health conditions.
Sounds like a real brain-buster.
The draft report itself, in language linking public health problems with violence and other social ills, says “we cannot overstate . . . that problems in remote parts of the globe can no longer be ignored. Diseases that Americans once read about as affecting people in regions . . . most of us would never visit are now capable of reaching us directly. The hunger, disease, and death resulting from poor food and nutrition create social and political instability . . . and that instability may spread to other nations as people migrate to survive.”
In 65 pages, the report charts trends in infectious and chronic disease; reviews efforts to curb AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; calls for the careful monitoring of public health to safeguard against bioterrorism; and explains the importance of proper nutrition, childhood immunizations and clean air and water, among other topics. Its underlying message is that disease and suffering do not respect political boundaries in an era of globalization and mass population movements.
I guess that’s hard to grasp when your interests are vested in exploiting developing nations, war-mongering, and upholding the Christian ideals of cutting off actual health care in favor of admonishing sinners.