justice? Or just ...

While looking for a case indicating the liability specifically of the individual owner/operator, rather than the corporate entity, I thought "Grace!" I couldn't find the final court decision, only some motions regarding evidentiary matters. The media, however, carried it. They don't cite case numbers, unfortunately. One of the respondents was quoted saying something along the lines of "it's regretable that anyone was injured, but that's not what this case was about." What did he think it was about? Or was he just weasel-wording it to separate public health from environmental contamination? The U.S. lost its case. I'd really like to read the opinions to see what the justification was, for morbid curiosity, if nothing else. Especially, given that quotation, to see which law was cited as being violated.

age-limited access to health care

Access to health care is usually presented as a function of income, proximity to services, or cultural dictates. Oddly, it can also be a function of age: Children also need a birth certificate to be eligible for the vaccination programme available to under five year olds. Those who are ineligible are left vulnerable to preventable diseases, a common problem in Cameroon. Given the child mortality rates (i.e. deaths under 5 yrs age) in under-developed countries, and the urgency to vaccinate as a public health measure ... I'm stunned that the gov't would refuse to vaccinate anyone under 5 just because of a birth certificate. I understand the need to control when the child gets vaccinated and make sure the child doesn't get too many. Although I'm equally sure that if the parents are well-off they could get their kid the shots.

Myth (the myth of objective educated opinions)

Myths pervade even public health. Yesterday's Midmorning program had as guests professors of

infectious diseases @ Mayo

public health professor @ Pitt, and

pediatrics @ Indiana U.

Public health officials are trying to figure out why a majority of Americans, including many public health nurses and doctors, have told pollsters recently they are wary of the H1N1 vaccine. Wary to the point that they're not sure they will get the shot against H1N1 flu. A look at medical myths and what fuels the fear of vaccines.

This I need to hear. My opinion, prior to doing so, is that medical & public health officials are

a) inadequately educated about vaccines & how they are made

b) subject to the ignorance of peer-education. Rather than peer pressure, this is peer pressure exerting influence about facts. If all of my patients/clients believe it, it must be true.

Pilgrimage & Polio

Saudi Arabia: Pilgrims Who Travel to Mecca This Fall Will Get an Oral Polio Vaccine on Arrival By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. Published: September 28, 2009 New York Times Saudi Arabia has announced that everyone arriving for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in November will have to swallow a dose of oral polio vaccine under the eyes of health officials. The kingdom has become more and more aggressive in its fight against polio, which has hovered on the brink of eradication for years. Until recently, the Saudi authorities asked for proof of vaccination when pilgrims applied for visas and forcibly vaccinated only those arriving from countries where polio was endemic. In New York last week, the country’s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, and Ted Turner, the cable television billionaire and chairman of the United Nations Foundation, announced that Saudi Arabia would donate $30 million toward global polio eradication. While that is only a small contribution to the $6.1 billion spent over the last 20 years, it is symbolically important. Polio is endemic in only four countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and regions of Nigeria and India with a Muslim majority. It persists largely because of a persistent rumor that the vaccine is a Western plot to sterilize Muslim girls. Each year, travelers from endemic countries seed outbreaks in other poor countries, where vaccination drives had been dropped when the disease was thought to have been eliminated. In some years, it has reached Saudi Arabia, where millions of pilgrims live close together in tent cities for the holy week.