11/10/2024
My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,
My CV test was positive this AM, so I am not going to Meeting for Worship.
Speaking of health, today’s good news is that Jordan is the first country in the world to eradicate leprosy & Egypt is now malaria free. Please spread this news of progress!
You could highlight the important work of the WHO & remind US citizens about the idea of One Health, that guides the work of my colleagues at UCD which points out “humans do not exist in isolation, but are part of the larger, total living ecosystem. The activities & conditions of each member affect others.”
Perhaps you can also repeat Ben Franklin’s adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure” to counteract 45 & RFK Jr.’s anti-science rhetoric about dismantling the FDA & CDC. My guess is RFK Jr didn’t take advantage of his time at Harvard to develop respect & appreciation for science. If anything, it’s probably where he developed a distaste for nerds, because they probably failed to laugh at his antics.
In any case, I’m worried by what Simon Williams wrote in TIME about what may be in store for public health, specifically, “another term could further undermine scientific regulatory authorities, turning the cracks in public trust that 45’s first administration helped cause into veritable chasms… (and a) rise of “neo-quackery” & “conspirituality” (when conspiracy meets spirituality) under the banner of ‘wellness’.”
Sorry to speculate on the future – let’s get back to NOW, NOW, NOW.
Since this letter is about health, please attend to the diarrhea & flu outbreaks in schools run by an education network affiliated with the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) in Sagaing Region’s Myaung Township in Burma. Recent floods in the area caused a mosquito outbreak & the locals don’t have the medicines they need to treat infected children. No one has died yet, but recently 3 children died in another village. Please see what we can do to help.
BYBS,
