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We've
only just begun . . . |
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to
tap the potential of prevention |
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6,000:
A CONSERVATIVE
ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN UNDER 5 WHO DIE EVERY WEEK ASSOCIATED
WITH LACK OF ACCESS TO SAFE WATER, INADEQUATE SANITATION AND POOR HYGIENE |
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EVERY
PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTION IS AFFECTED BY WHETHER THERE IS ENOUGH CLEAN
WATER. WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO WALK SEVERAL HOURS EVERY DAY TO CARRY WATER
HOME HAVE LITTLE TIME FOR WORK OR EDUCATION.
The best vaccination program in the world is of little use to children who
will die anyway of diseases virtually unheard of in nations with water pipes
and flush toilets. The Rollins School of Public Health knows it can’t
change such a global problem on its own, but its Center for Global Safe
Water, established in partnership with CARE USA, the CDC, Population Services
International, and others, is already making a difference.
As part of this initiative, faculty and students
in public health have helped evaluate a CDC/CARE program in which poor Kenyan
women buy a purifying chlorine solution wholesale and sell it retail to
their neighbors. The women, sometimes called the AVON ladies of
Kenya, become advocates for use of the inexpensive but effective water purification
system. And they show their community how to safely store treated water
in containers that can’t be reinfected by contact with dirty hands.
Produced locally, this system is a source of badly needed income and cuts
in half the number of cases of diarrhea in children under 5, those least
likely to survive serious bouts of the disease. Inspired by this work, the
Atlanta Rotary is partnering with the school of public health to build new
wells and provide support for water treatment and storage in Kenya.
The school is also taking on issues of sanitation,
with faculty bold enough to define their life’s work as “building
better latrines,” a necessary corollary to initiatives in safe water.
Because safe water and adequate sanitation go hand in hand, Eugene Gangarosa,
professor emeritus, and his wife Rose Salamone Gangarosa, an equally committed
public health advocate, have funded two complementary chairs, one in safe
water and one in environmental health, to strengthen programs in these areas
and act on their belief that access to clean water is a basic human right. |
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Facing
biologic threats |
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Mock biosafety labs train researchers
to work safely in real labs with real pathogens. |
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Students
in courses at the mock biosafety level 3 and 4 labs on the Emory
Briarcliff campus learn the strict protocols for working with
organisms that cause diseases like smallpox, SARS, and Ebola.
The pathogens in this case may be hypothetical, but the setting
itself is otherwise authentic. From 7 in the morning to 7 at
night, students learn how to don and doff suits, handle “sharps”
(dissecting tools), deal with accidents, and decontaminate themselves.
With more and more biosafety labs springing up not just
locally but in the region and throughout the country, the need
for such training is crucial. “This program may
be the first of its kind in the country and involves collaborations
with experts at the CDC, Emory, and elsewhere,” says Ruth
Berkelman, who directs the School of Public Health’s Center
for Public Health Preparedness and Research (CPHPR), which developed
the curriculum. The program was initiated by the NIH-sponsored
Southern Regional Center for Excellence for Emerging Infections
and Biodefense, a consortium of six southeastern universities.
The CPHPR is also working with the Southeastern Center for Emerging
Biologic Threats to examine and maximize the effectiveness of
response plans of public health agencies in eight southeastern
states for dealing with a potential outbreak of pandemic flu. |
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YOU CAN
HELP! |
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Tap
the potential of prevention: |
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>
GET IN ON THE FIRST FLOOR. Here’s the price of success:
The Rollins School of Public Health has outgrown its home, spilling
over to seven other campus sites. Feasibility studies have given
the green light for a new building located behind the school’s
current facility. Plans have yet to be drawn, but that doesn’t
worry Dean James Curran. “We have a compelling story,”
he says, “and we deliver what we promise. We need to move
in by 2009.” |
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>
TURN SMALL SUMS INTO BIG HEALTH GAINS. Public health practitioners
do that every day. Got $25? That’s the cost of providing
HIV testing and counseling to a couple in Zambia. Got $50? That’s
the cost of tests to evaluate toxicity of dirt in a playground. |
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>
INVEST IN THE FUTURE. Students who follow the “secular
calling” of public health often graduate with high debt.
Named scholarships can be endowed for $100,000 to enable students
to follow their calling to help save lives, millions at a time.
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>
SUBSTITUTE A BLOOD TEST FOR A COLONOSCOPY. Emory public health
researchers believe that biomarkers for colon cancer can be
detected in blood samples. A gift of $150,000 would fund equipment
and
personnel to accelerate their research and help make screening
for colon cancer as simple as getting your cholesterol checked. |
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Send
your gift today by calling 404-727-3518, or give
online. |
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Copyright
© Emory University, 2006. All Rights Reserved |
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