Among the readings and the viewings for this section, there were many interesting facts to learn. I found Dr. Manchanda's proverb about the friend who swims upstream when children are drowning to really resonate. As her friends were saving the children that were drowning and about to drown, she took off upstream to investigate what was causing them to be in the water. Perhaps I should have already heard this story, but it really describes how I feel the public health profession behaves in the US compared to primary and specialty care clinicians.
I was also particularly interested to hear Tracy Woodruff, PhD, MPH speak as I used to work in the grants department that managed her awards. She is a prolific and innovative researcher and I was interested to hear what she had to say. Unfortunately, it was not good news...but worth taking note. Chronic diseases are rising along with the production and use of chemicals in our environment. While I regrettably don't see these chemicals going away any time soon, I'm concerned about what this means for reproduction in the US. Since the chemicals, as she pointed out, are banned from being used in their own parent company's country the US and developing countries will be the first wave of experimental education. We will have to see how our future generations develop before irreparable damage to our environment is taken into consideration. It's really truly disheartening. Especially (on a more personal note) since multiple researchers mentioned fish and I *LOVE* fish!
I too loved the analogy used by Dr. Manchanda's! It really expresses public health to a tee and our efforts to change why things are happening instead of fixing only what we see in front of us. I hope one day, governmental agencies take a stand towards the increased production of toxic chemicals, but with your point, examining the real results and consequences and informing those around us is what we can do now.
ReplyDeleteI love fish as well! It makes me wonder if it would even be any better to have farm raised fish? I hope that as more health officials stress the importance of chemicals that the government steps in and implements stronger regulations.
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