LP Spring 2018 - 12

L A N C A S T E R M E D I C A L S O C I E T Y.O R G

Healthy Communities

Beyond Medical Missions
TOWARD A VISION OF GLOBAL HEALTH EQUITY

I

TOM GATES, MD

Pennsylvania Medical Society

n October of 2014, I was traveling with
friends in Bhutan, while following the
unfolding Ebola crisis in West Africa
via the Internet. There was something
deeply disturbing about watching, from the
perspective of the relatively poor country I was
visiting, the U.S. response to the epidemic.
While hundreds of Africans were dying every
day, the U.S. reaction was centered on protecting "us" rather than helping Africa. There were
loud calls for a travel ban, and certain politicians
made scapegoats of returning medical personnel
(for example, the Maine nurse who was forced
to undergo quarantine in a tent in New Jersey
and the returning physician who was baselessly
accused of putting half of New York City at
risk). In Bhutan, I determined that I wanted
to be part of the solution rather than part of
the problem.
Returning home, I started researching
possible ways I might contribute to the effort
to combat the epidemic. When I visited the
website of Boston-based Partners in Health
(PIH), the first thing I saw was these words
from its founder, Dr. Paul Farmer: "The idea
that some lives matter less is the root of all
that's wrong with the world." It immediately
struck me - That's it! That is the heart of what
had been bothering me, the assumption that
African lives somehow "matter less."

LANCASTER

12

PHYSICIAN



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LP Spring 2018

LP Spring 2018 - 1
LP Spring 2018 - 2
LP Spring 2018 - 3
LP Spring 2018 - 4
LP Spring 2018 - 5
LP Spring 2018 - 6
LP Spring 2018 - 7
LP Spring 2018 - 8
LP Spring 2018 - 9
LP Spring 2018 - 10
LP Spring 2018 - 11
LP Spring 2018 - 12
LP Spring 2018 - 13
LP Spring 2018 - 14
LP Spring 2018 - 15
LP Spring 2018 - 16
LP Spring 2018 - 17
LP Spring 2018 - 18
LP Spring 2018 - 19
LP Spring 2018 - 20
LP Spring 2018 - 21
LP Spring 2018 - 22
LP Spring 2018 - 23
LP Spring 2018 - 24
LP Spring 2018 - 25
LP Spring 2018 - 26
LP Spring 2018 - 27
LP Spring 2018 - 28
LP Spring 2018 - 29
LP Spring 2018 - 30
LP Spring 2018 - 31
LP Spring 2018 - 32
LP Spring 2018 - 33
LP Spring 2018 - 34
LP Spring 2018 - 35
LP Spring 2018 - 36
LP Spring 2018 - 37
LP Spring 2018 - 38
LP Spring 2018 - 39
LP Spring 2018 - 40
LP Spring 2018 - 41
LP Spring 2018 - 42
LP Spring 2018 - 43
LP Spring 2018 - 44
LP Spring 2018 - 45
LP Spring 2018 - 46
LP Spring 2018 - 47
LP Spring 2018 - 48
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPFall21
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSummer21
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSpring21
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPWinter21
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPFall20
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LancasterPhysicianSummer2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSpring20
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPWinter20
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPFall19
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSummer19
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSpring2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPWinter2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPFall2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSummer2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSpring18
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPWinter18
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/Fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/Summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/Lancaster_Physician/LPSpring17
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com