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Epi Wit & Wisdom Articles
WHO’s World Health Magazine
Devotes Issue to Epidemiology
“Facts of Life” Described as
Province of Epidemiology
Activist Role Encouraged
The World Health Organization
has devoted its entire June 1989 issue of World Health magazine to
feature articles about epidemiology. Calling epidemiology an essential
tool for health, Jean Paul Jardel, Assistant Director General of the
WHO, espoused a very activist view of epidemiology in his lead article
entitled “Knowledge is Strength.”
Activist Theme
According to Jardel, “More than
any other of the approaches used in the health sciences, perhaps the
epidemiological approach must innovate, translate its findings into
language which is clear and immediately understandable, and arrive at
conclusions which can be put into practice in health programmes and
policies. Important communication, ethical and political problems
arise...More important than cataloging the things that are wrong and
the things that could be better is the need to find new ways of
bringing about change. Epidemiology closely allied with health policy
should help us to achieve this.” This activist theme for epidemiology
permeates many of the articles in this issue of World Health.
Is Epi Dangerous?
“Tell me, doctor, is
epidemiology dangerous?” is the title of an article by WHO’s Michel
Thuriaux. Admitting to being disconcerted by this question, Thuriaux
goes on to describe what epidemiology is, how it is used, and why it
is used. He concludes with the following remarks: “All political
action is risky, and no change can come about without risk...it might
be useful to recall that, to the degree that it supports health policy
or even just politics generally, epidemiology is neither totally
harmless, innocent, nor without risk. And perhaps that is not such a
bad thing.”
Passive to Active
In an article on “New Weapons”
that have been developed in the fight against tropical diseases
(diagnostics, drugs, vaccines, vector control measures and educational
methods), WHO’s Richard Morrow makes the point that “The challenge to
epidemiology is to shift from relatively passive, descriptive studies
concerning the distribution and the natural history of a disease to a
more demanding, activist involvement with the community and disease
control services. This shift is needed to assess the potential
usefulness of these new tools, to determine how best they may be
applied to the populations in need, and to evaluate what the effects
of their application will be on the health of the people.”
Facts of Life
In the magazine centerfold is a
piece explaining what is meant by the “facts of life” theme featured
on the cover of the magazine. It states:
“Each one of us is born, grows
up, perhaps marries and has children, and dies as a single individual.
Our health is a personal matter, and we do our best--each as an
individual--to prevent our own ill-health.
But the health status of a
village, a district, a city or the whole planet is a collective thing.
It can only be assessed by bringing together all possible information
about every individual in order to determine what patterns there may
be in the distribution of disease--or indeed of good health in a given
community.
This is the role of
epidemiology--the study and the application of all those “facts of
life” that bear on our well-being. In collating those facts and
establishing the patterns that put lives at risk, or that cause
certain diseases and encourage their spread, research which may seem
remote and arcane is helping medical science to put together a global
jigsaw of health.”
Other
Other articles of interest to
epidemiologists include those on a lifestyle hazards project in
Mauritius, a maternal and child project in Mali, a high-tech lab
methods project in Mexico, an article on world cancer patterns by
Sharon Whelan from the IARC, and finally an article on ethics and
epidemiology by John Last. In this latter article, Last gives his
views on ethical guidelines, stating that “Formulating ethical
guidelines for epidemiological practice and research will not resolve
the moral ambiguities that are encountered almost every day.
Guidelines can, however, achieve several useful ends. They can draw
attention to the necessity of considering the ethical implications of
professional actions; they can thus lead to elevation of professional
standards, not only in introducing consistently humane and caring
attitudes, but also in raising the quality of the science itself.”
Published September 1989 v
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