Day 12(1/14/18) *Geneva*

Day 12 brought with it many surprises and hardships.This morning, a friend of mine on the trip got the terrible news that her mother had passed away. She had been sick for quite a while, but seemed to be getting better, and it came as a tremendous shock to my friend when she found out that her mother was no longer in this world. I’m not sure how to best help her…I don’t know how anyone can help her…how do you go on after losing a parent so young? And being in a foreign country, away from all of your family and familiar surroundings to bring you at least a fraction of comfort? I can’t comprehend the pain she is in, and I pray that somehow she finds at least a few pockets of hope and comfort. 

I spent most of the day with my friend, but in the afternoon we did have a small group presentation(the biological group), so I went to that and then afterwards I was kindly excused from the group activities that evening so that my friend wouldn’t have to stay alone at the centre. I’ll summarize/reflect on the group reflection and then call it a night.

The biological group was quite interesting, especially since for most of this course we have been learning about the big-picture aspects of disease (as they relate to public health), so it was nice to look at the scientific details for many of these diseases today.  Some of the things I found interesting/unusual were the following:
-meningitis is spread through inhalation (I was very unaware of this…I thought it was non-communicable. Perhaps that is a comment on how protected I am from it where I live, which I gather to be a very good sign that it’s controlled where I live…but unfortunately the same does not hold for other populations across the world we learned)
-50% of HIV patients are female (even though male/male sexual contact is considered a risk factor)
-82% of malaria cases occur in Africa, and on average these individuals will lose 2% of their annual income due to missing work from malaria
-Only 80% of tuberculosis cases present in the lungs…20% show symptoms in the skin, or bones, or in other tissues
-20% of children under 5 die from diarrhoea diseases worldwide, even though the treatment is often as simple as rehydration through plenty of water, zinc supplements, and antibiotics if necessary
-Neglected Tropical Disease treatment costs only $0.50 in total per patient (not even per dose!), and yet it is one of the leading causes of death in developing countries. (Learning this made me reflect on my time at the Red Cross/Red Crescent museum yesterday, and how incredibly unfair the world is for those who just happen to not have access to what others of us happen to have access to. Why should money decide who lives and who dies? Or why should one’s geographic location decide this? It’s incredibly frustrating to observe these inequities, and it gives me great hope that people are working on solutions at significant global organizations, such as the WHO, UN, Unicef, CDC, Doctors Without Borders, and several others)

In addition to the above points, the group discussed in detail the mechanism for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its effects worldwide. Apparently, if nothing is done about this issue (bacteria evolving to become unresponsive to antibiotics), a predicted 10 million people will lose their lives by 2050 as a result. This is an issue that we learned about at the CDC as well, with one of our speakers there, and I had asked about suggestions to reduce the issue of homeless/poverty-stricken individuals contributing to antibiotic resistance through not finishing prescriptions or using their friend’s extra antibiotic pills. The biology group, in their section on AMR, found an answer in their assigned chapter! They claimed that a majority of AMR is caused by people not finishing their prescriptions or sharing prescriptions, much of which might have to do with access to sufficient money to be able to purchase their medications. The direct quote was, “If people can’t afford treatment, they won’t complete it.” So…perhaps a solution to AMR lies in government-subsidised antibiotic treatments for those who cannot afford them? I’m sure it’s far more complicated, but it gives me great hope to know that the homeless/underserved population is being noticed as decisions makers create plans for the future.

Tomorrow we fly to Copenhagen for a few days to spend time at the WHO Euro…where I hope I’ll be able to connect with a woman I’ve learned works there and who spends a lot of time working on incarceration/pregnancy (exactly the focus of my project!). Either way, I’m sure it will be an interesting few days and I am very excited for what it will bring.

Goodnight,

Anna

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