Conflict, war and medicine (catch all).

[Uboat509]

With the sad reversal of the effective eradication of cholera in Haiti we can see that, yes, you have to get things right at the lower levels if you want a regional or national public health initiative to succeed. But the notion that many or most public health issues is a micro issue is just incorrect. For example, what can be done about MDR–TB at the local level besides treat and isolate infected individuals?

The government can provide the drugs or the vaccines or the treated insect nets but it is up to the local providers to implement protocols, treat patients and distribute medical supplies. Dayuhan's vignette is a perfect example of that. If the local provider is simply selling the supplies and equipment that the government provides then the plan fails. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that these problems are only at the micro level. I am simply saying that you cannot ignore the micro level.

I don’t disagree, but I nowhere said that the West had to be involved at all.

Sorry. That was not aimed at you. I was speaking generally because there are a lot of people who do make that complaint. I did not mean to imply that you had.