Swine Flu and Inequality

There are now several confirmed cases of Swine Flu in Guatemala, setting into action Peace Corps´ emergency action plan for illness and epidemics. I received a text message from our security officer yesterday reading the following, “ALERT. Confirmed case in Guate City. Avoid all unnecessary travel 2 Guate. Begin stockpiling supplies.”

I’ll be honest, it made me laugh. Stockpiling supplies? Really? It all seems a little ridiculous considering that the common flu kills more people per month than swine flu has killed in the month since it was discovered. Guatemalans are freaking out about the whole thing though, which got me thinking a about the inequity of access to medicine and medical treatment in general. Peace Corps issues each of its volunteers a medical kit complete with a dosage of Tamiflu (the medicine that people in the US are paying over $100 for) so even if I somehow did contract Swine Flu, I could start my dosage and have plenty of time to get to a hospital for treatment. In short, I really don’t have anything to worry about. However, my Guatemalan neighbors have a lot to worry about. If Swine Flu were to become epidemic in Guatemala it could be incredibly dangerous because of several factors. First, most Guatemalans live many hours´ walk from the nearest health center who could diagnose an illness as Swine flu. Second, many of these health centers are understaffed and under-trained so the probability of them correctly diagnosing such a new disease is low. Third, even if Swine flu was diagnosed correctly and in a timely manner, there is no stockpile of Tamiflu in Guatemala to administer, and even if there was, it would be far too expensive for most Guatemalans to ever fathom being able to afford.

I read a book a few years ago by Paul Farmer (Harvard professor and Medical Doctor who is famous for his radical approach to healthcare for the poor in Haiti and other countries) called Pathologies of Power that talked a lot about the inequality in the realm of healthcare. It’s no coincidence that grave diseases like AIDS and curable infirmities like Diarrhea kill far more people in the Global South (the part of the world with more abject poverty; the term that most development professionals prefer over “third world” or “developing world”) than the North, and therefore no coincidence that people in the Global South are more fearful of things like Swine Flu. I can’t say that I have the answer for re-tipping the scales. I don’t even know what to say to my neighbors when they’re fearful of Swine flu because I think it is probably a legitimate fear. But, I digress… I meant this to be a simple update on Swine Flu in Guatemala since I’ve been getting a lot of emails and calls making sure I’m okay. I’m fine, but I hope that my thoughts have also got you thinking about inequalities that might be present in your context and how you might work to right them.