Stricken by an illness in '96 that most assume only infect exceedingly impoverished areas of the world, I while in a wealthy city, was diagnosed with Malaria. The disease was not restricted to sub-saharan Africa or the slums of Calcutta, but it was found in the suburbs of Mumbai, India— the country's financial and entertainment capital. Thankfully, with good hospital facilities and a healthy dose of quinine, I was up and about in a week or so. But what about those living in urban slums or in the middle of the Congo? They are exposed to conditions that make malaria and other infectious diseases a virtual certainty. Bring in the spectre of HIV, it is a situation that makes one cringe. For any number of reasons, malaria and other diseases do not figure in the plans of the major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies of the world. Instead the fight has been led by a number of non-governmental and funding organizations, such as Seattle's own Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
One could say that Seattle might be among the most important cities in the fight for sustainable health in the third world. The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI) and PATH are amongst the local non-profits that help make the world a better place for millions of people who live in conditions that many of us would rather not think about. The University of Washington recently set up a global health department and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has a number of programs specifically targeted at global health. As a recent Seattle-ite and scientist, living in a city with so much emphasis on infectious diseases, I wonder how many people are really aware of the progress the region has made in this area? Hopefully the efforts of Worldchanging and articles like this one, will make the headlines go beyond the philanthropic efforts of the Gates Foundation. Organizations like SBRI not only help carry the torch in the fight for global health, but they are also good civic citizens, as evidenced by their sustainable building on Westlake Avenue.
But what is the best way we in the developed world can help those with access to limited resources and healthcare? According to Chris Elias, president of PATH, "joining a cutting-edge business model with science and applying it to sustainable solutions. The challenge, however, is reframing it so it isn't charity." Every able person that can join the workforce in an Indian village, for example, helps a family sustain itself better by giving a child a chance at education, and perhaps finding a job that can help the rest of the family. Now fuel these efforts with funding from the Gates Foundation and other organizations, including the National Institutes for Health and we can help sustain life across the globe.
Further reading
Washington CEO: A world with no diesease
Previously on Worldchanging
Orphan Diseases, Collaborative Biology and Sequencing Parasites
Photo source: Pandiyan via a Creative Commons license
