America's public health system is in danger because of its push to prepare for potential bioterrorism attacks, a cofounder of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has warned Canadian physicians.
In a wide-ranging Oct. 4 address in Toronto sponsored by Physicians for Global Survival (Canada), Dr. Victor Sidel suggested that this emphasis on biological warfare may be misplaced, since these types of attacks have not played a major role in wars or terrorism during the past century.
Sidel, who also traced the evolution of war in the 20th century and condemned US military actions against Iraq, says the new US emphasis on bioterrorism preparedness is diverting resources while public health efforts are severely underfunded and many Americans are dying from preventable infectious diseases and food-borne illnesses.
He said it can also lead to inappropriate immunizations and use of antibiotics — he noted that while Seattle was experiencing its worst outbreak of tuberculosis in 30 years, the federal government was insisting that public health resources be used for smallpox vaccinations.
Sidel, a professor of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, says PSR was outspoken in its opposition to the US attack on Iraq, and its advertising campaign featuring the slogan “No to Pre-emptive War” brought both financial and other support.
But “medicine should have spoken out” against the war too, Sidel said after his address.
He said the war's outcome has been disturbingly predictable, and it has become clear that the US is “absolutely unprepared to fulfill its responsibility as an occupying power. International law sets out those responsibilities and the United States has totally failed.”
Sidel is also concerned about the growing impact today's wars are having on civilians. For instance, civilian deaths accounted for only 14% of all deaths during WW I, but that proportion rose to 67% in WW II and has averaged 75% to 90% during wars over the past 20 years. Civilians also suffer most because of one of war's leftovers, land mines. Sidel said these are best described as “weapons of slow mass destruction.”
Responding to a question, Sidel said he was teaching in Manhattan on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and his most vivid memory is the “columns of people walking uptown from downtown. It reminded me of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people just trying to move away from the risks.” — Ann Silversides, Toronto
Figure. Unprepared to be an occupying power? Photo by: Canapress