Michael’s Work In Mali by risa
I had started writing something entitled ‘Learning how to do nothing,’ since that was basically what I was doing. Things move slowly here, and my lack of work accomplished was getting a little ridonkulous. Waiting to see this person here, waiting to get that email there… In the process, I was discovering the difficulities in having nothing to do. I’m one of those people who likes to be so excessively busy that he can’t find enough time in the day to sleep and therefore develops shingles (many of you know, I’m not joking). All of a sudden I had lots of time to do all those things we never have enough time for. Reading books, visiting nearby villages, enjoying a coffee while listening to Radio France Internationale, filling in internship applications, aquiring massive amounts of African music, learning Bambara, etc. However, one needs something to strive for in life, and I was feeling without direction as I waited for my research to really get going.
That said, the last two weeks have brought about massive changes in my daily life and so now I can tell you a little bit about what I ‘do’ here.
Most developing countries have a national list of ‘essential’ medicines that should be available, affordable and accessible to the public. The World Health Organization emphasizes that this policy could be used in all countries – including developed ones – as it improves supply, increases rational use, and lowers the costs of life saving medicines. While some developed countries (eg. Norway and Canada) do have comparable lists indicating medicines to be covered by a national or provincial health program; others such as the United States do not. America’s main argument is that individuals and doctors should be free to take and prescribe any medicine that has been approved as safe by the Food and Drug Administration. Making a list of essential medicines would therefore limit a persons freedom of choice. The truth of the matter is some countries find it more important to protect their pharmaceutical industry instead of the people who are trying to get the best access and most effective medicines for the lowest possible price.
[Update: The rest of the material that was originally published here has been removed at the author's request. There was nothing shocking in it, really, he just felt that he should finish his research and then send us something he could really stand by. Also, you know, ethics and stuff. When he sends me his final policy document I will publish it as a new posts and make sure there's a link from here to there. Until then, you'll just have to read something else. How about this?]
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