April 2003: Opening the Doors to Health Worldwide

April 2003: Opening the Doors to Health Worldwide If anyone doubts the need to take a global perspective when it comes to certain healthcare issues, you need only look at the events of the last month or so for some sobering truths. journalArticle health care organizations,healthcare,diseases, health services, international development,disorder, health care delivery,id, infectious disease, international agencies,infectious disease David Danar, MD David Danar, MD, Site Editor/Program Director, Medscape Internal Medicine Medscape Medscape Internal Medicine 04/23/2003 5 1 Alexandre Dumas had it right when he had his Musketeers shout, "All for one, and one for all!" Societies cannot resolve all of their problems alone. If anyone doubts the need to take a global perspective when it comes to certain healthcare issues, you need only look at the events of the last month or so for some sobering truths. Events have shown how important international cooperation is in bringing humanitarian relief to one country -- Iraq -- and in resolving the cause of a mysterious and deadly emerging infectious disease that affects many countries.The importance of international organizations is manifest by their central role in providing Iraqis with necessary food, water, sanitation, and adequate healthcare. We need to open the doors of Iraq to humanitarian relief and allow the rest of the world to provide assistance.According to the April 12, 2003 issue of The New York Times, the US Agency for International Development is planning to funnel much of its assistance through nongovernmental organizations that include CARE, the International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, and Save the Children. At the time of this writing, the newspaper also reports that the situation in Iraq is too violent for any of these organizations to operate beyond Umm Qasr, a town near the Kuwait border. The International Committee of the Red Cross has called on US troops for protection of hospitals and water supplies in Baghdad. It's very uncomfortable to sit on the sidelines while the looting of hospitals takes place. But, along with the rest of the world, we watch, wait, and hope for the political stabilization that will give the rest of the world the opportunity to help.As the situation in Iraq evolves, we're seeing the evolution of another kind of transnational process, that of the global effort to understand and contain the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Each country must open the doors to its healthcare institutions and practices worldwide in the spirit of global communication. How else can we hope to control this new epidemic? Sharing of information likely was pivotal in the very early stages in helping to identify the cause of the disease. Of late, the nearly simultaneous identification of a coronavirus genome by Canadian scientists and researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control within days of beginning their efforts speaks to the transnational spirit of the battle against disease. One can only think that sharing of results and resources will be the best, if not the only, way to stem the tide of this epidemic.Here, too, along with the rest of the world, we watch, wait, and hope for continued open communication and access by public health experts in all affected countries.As always, if you have comments or questions, please contact me at <a href="mailto:IMEditor@WebMD.net">IMEditor@WebMD.net</a>.<h4>Associated Resources</h4>The evolving state of healthcare in Iraq:International Committee of the Red Cross <a href="http://www.icrc.org/" target="_blank">http://www.icrc.org/</a>US Agency for International Development <a href="http://www.usaid.gov/" target="_blank">http://www.usaid.gov/</a>CARE <a href="http://www.care.org/" target="_blank">http://www.care.org/</a>International Rescue Committee <a href="http://www.intrescom.org/" target="_blank">http://www.intrescom.org/</a>Mercy Corps <a href="http://www.mercycorps.org/" target="_blank">http://www.mercycorps.org/</a>Save the Children <a href="http://www.savethechildren.org/" target="_blank">http://www.savethechildren.org/</a>Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)Global Alert: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) <a href="/pages/editorial/public/toc-sars">http://www.medscape.com/pages/editorial/public/toc-sars</a>Read this collection of reports and news from Medscape's editors to stay up to date on the latest developments.