2014. A year that reminded us of a couple of universal imperatives: 1 peace is a really good thing sociologically, environmentally, and economically, and 2 public health is a field of endeavor to which we should pay more…much more…attention.
OK. I hear your gears turning, attempting to winkle out [a British idiom based on the harvest of periwinkle snails from jetties and intertidal rocks, said snails are boiled and eaten hot with dipping sauces, a treat for visitors to the eternally chilly and windy UK coast, although David McCallum on NCIS contends his parents had to hold him down and physically force the little snails down his gullet] just why a sort of mediocre ecologist with a spotty academic record and compulsive interest in over turning rocks, especially in the intertidal zone of the nearest estuary, should be pontificating on matters of such weighty importance.
The answer, of course, is that said ecologist is also driven to compulsive pontification. And his ongoing trench war with various cancers gives him, he believes, a license to pontificate, sort of equivalent to Legislative approval of the Executive’s power to wage war. What this means in the short haul, of course, is that you are stuck with my pontificatory (actual word?) musings regarding the interface of science and sociology.
So, with licensure (actual word?) established, let’s rock!
But before we get to the larger, more important world, let’s do a quick review of my private, as opposed to public, health. In general, here inside my cancer-stricken anatomy, things aren’t too bad. I still have plenty of pain, and lack energy and ability to get around without stumbling and stopping every half dozen slow paces to catch my breath. On the other hand, I DO manage to catch my breath. This is a sign that the chemotherapy continues to function as intended. The tumor tissue in my lungs has been beaten back sufficiently that I am not wheezing, accumulating fluids, or struggling to get enough oxygen for my physiology to function. These are all good signs.
On the other other hand (see paragraph immediately about for initial “other”), all is not roses and chocolate dipped cherries. I’m having trouble generating the energy needed to do even the minimalist Christmas shopping I need to do (and which I love to do, the problem is that physically I just have trouble keeping functional long enough to get it done. On the other other other hand (I promise, that’s the last one of these sick little grammar jokes I’ll subject you to), Beth and Maggie have been here all week babysitting me while Cathy and the kids went to Atlanta to watch Colin graduate. In fact, due to Cathy’s astute attention and Beth’s and Maggie’s computer skills, I did get to watch the JumboTron pic of Colin receiving his diploma. Presumably. At Rutgers, we got empty tubes which allowed the administration to hold up our actual graduation until we paid our library and campus parking fines (I SWEAR). Actually, I skipped my mid-term graduation, so it wasn’t an issue for me. Pretty sure I have the diploma somewhere. Which is odd, because I’m also pretty sure I carried library and campus parking fines. Oh well. Institutions have their own pace and personality. Rutgers was slow and sloppy. Which is why it was such a perfect fit for me!
Anyway. Let’s give a quick once-over to matters of public health and global politics. Based on stories culled from this week’s Washington Post (print edition), we find:
• Ebola, in its vicious swath carved across the chronically impoverished landscapes of West Africa, caused the collapse of the fragile health infrastructure (such as it was) in the affected nations. This means that the thousands being killed by Ebola each multiplied its impact such that malaria, a true scourge in the region, plus sleeping sickness, dengue fever, schistosomiasis, and other massive health threats were released from any ability of the medical system to constrain their impacts. West Africa is now officially more of a mess than it was prior to the Ebola outbreak, which is rather stunning giving how fucked up said health care systems were in the first place
• There is a real crisis brewing in the global microbiological fauna. Drug-resistant microbes are universally present, and the proportion of the microbial ecosystem that is drug resistant increases constantly. A British-sponsored report by Rand and KPMG estimates 2 million drug-resistant cases and 23,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. Projecting that estimate across nations including China, India, Indonesia, Australia, and other populous places that need big-time food inputs, where such inputs are generated with the assistance of prophylactic antibiotics is a frightening exercise. Our children are going to live in a world where an infection is a very dangerous thing. A quick rinse and a band-aid are not going to be enough. And current research suggests that we can’t drug our way out of this. Antibiotic resistance is very difficult to constrain. At some point in the coming decades, this will be an issue of life-and-death importance.
• Finally, for the lighter side of things, let’s look at world peace. China, which finds the Nobel Peace Prize to be bigoted against Chinese patriots, issues an alternative, the Confucius Peace Prize. To compound the comedy, the winner this year is Fidel Castro! Man, sometimes you can’t make stuff up to compete with the real world.
Well, that’s a wrap for this week, everybody. I’m still alive, still marginally functional, still love you all and I feel your thoughts on my behalf. Hopefully this week I’ll be able to complete some rudimentary Christmas shopping—we’ll see. Check back to this time and space next week for your update.
And remember. Use ‘em while you got ‘em. Because they are definitely not forever. My love to each and every one of you!!!
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