Bitter Optimism and Confusing Questions in Global Health
I had one of those moments today where I was struck by the impossibility of the work we do. We're all bitter, crazy optimists in global health. Because we have to be. But sometimes I am reminded of just how crazy that optimism is.
I was talking to a Tajik acquaintance today. She's a mother of three kids. Her youngest child is two, and suffering from a sore throat. The girl is also running a slight fever. My acquaintance has been getting penicillin shots for her daughter, injected into the throat. She was complaining today, about how her daughter cries and cries about the needles and about the cost of the shots.
Since I am a hopeless meddler, I suggested that she discontinue the shots. There is no earthly reason to give antibiotic injections for an ordinary sore throat. Especially since there has been no throat culture, so we don't even know this is a bacterial infection. I gave my usual pitch about why antibiotics can't cure all illnesses: they only work on a certain kind if microbe called bacteria, and not all illnesses are caused by bacteria.
This is what the young mother told me in return: "But, Gulia is sick! And how will she get better if we don't do anything?" Further conversation made it clear that she actually didn't believe it was possible for the human body to heal on its own. You only get better if you do something.
Every time I slam into a cultural gap like this, I am hit by the sheer challenge of global health work. Should we try to teach people that the body does heal on its own? Should we focus on things like eating healthy food as remedies for sickness? Is it ever our place to have this conversation? Maybe we should leave Tajiks alone to work out their own approach to health and healing. I honestly don't know.
COMMENTS (1)