The hypocrisies, cruelties, failings, and inadequacies of humanity’s sacred institutions
At the macro level a sense of global interconnectedness was developing over such issues as economic justice and development, environmental preservation, and, in a few instances, regulation. However, it wasn’t until the emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus, that the limits of, and imperatives for, globalization of health became obvious in a context larger than mass vaccination and diarrhea control programs. Through the AIDS prism it was possible for the world’s public health experts to witness what they considered to be the hypocrisies, cruelties, failings, and inadequacies of humanity’s sacred institutions, including its medical establishment, science, organized religion, systems of justice, the United nations, and individual government systems of all political stripes.
HIV, far from representing a public health aberration, may be a sign of things to come
Over the last five years, scientists – particularly in the United States and France – have voiced concern that HIV, far from representing a public health aberration, may be a sign of things to come. They warn that humanity has learned little about preparedness and response to new microbes, despite the blatant tragedy of AIDS. And they call for recognition of the ways in which changes at the micro level of thee environment of any nation can affect life at the global, macro level.
An ever-changing ecology we cannot see, but, nonetheless, by which we are constantly affected
In this book I explore the recent history of disease emergence, examining in roughly chronological order examples that highlight reasons for microbial epidemics and the ways humans respond, as cultures, scientists, physicians, bureaucrats, politicians, and religious leaders. This book also examines the biology of evolution at microbial level, looking closely at ways in which disease agents and their vectors are adapting to counter defensive weapons used to protect human beings. In addition, The Coming Plague looks at means by which humans are actually aiding and abetting the microbes through ill-planned development schemes, misguided medicine, errant public health, and shortsighted political action/inaction. Finally, some solutions are offered. What is required, overall, is a new paradigm in the way people think about disease. As Harvard University’s Dick Levins puts it, “We must embrace complexity, seek ways to describe and comprehend an ever-changing ecology we cannot see, but, nonetheless, by which we are constantly affected.”
Perspectives must be forged that meld many disparate fields
Preparedness demands understanding. To comprehend the interactions between Homo sapiens and the vast and diverse microbial world, perspectives must be forged that meld such disparate fields as medicine, environmentalism, public health, basic ecology, primate biology, human behavior, economic development, cultural anthropology, human rights law, entomology, parasitology, virology, bacteriology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology.