Mountains Beyond Mountains
Kim Silva
Professor Rusnock
History of Medicine
14 September 2012
Mountains Beyond Mountains
"Beyond mountains, there are mountains." The Haitians use this term to express when an obstacle has been overcome, the next one follows almost immediately afterwards. In life, this usually seems to be the case. Many people’s solution to a complication is to surrender to it. Paul Farmer is an exception to this. He is a man that has persevered through life, battling his own problems, while drastically improving and saving the lives of thousands. Farmer’s eminent passion for treating unhealthy patients was never deterred by the obstacles he faced in the poverty stricken countries such as Haiti.
Haiti is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world. Perhaps, in this statement lies the reason Haiti has become so significant to Farmer. Farmer’s main goal is to provide first world medical care to third world countries. He believes that everyone, no matter where they are from, have right to the same medical attention. If something can be done to prevent a death, it should be done by all means. There is a term that Farmer uses called Epidemiological Divide, which refers to the division between the people who have access to proper healthcare and the people who die at a young age from a preventable cause. Farmer wants to eradicate this divide and provide equality for patients in impoverished communities. In hopes of doing so, Paul Farmer co-founded Partners In Health.
Partners In Health (PIH) is a non-profit organization that provides medical assistance to the poor. Today, this organization supports 12 different countries around the world. Although it was not an easy process to build this institution, Farmer had faith it would flourish into something extremely beneficial to so many communities. And it did. It strives to do whatever it takes to make an ill person recover from whatever it may be they are suffering from. Whether it is tuberculosis or
Professor Rusnock
History of Medicine
14 September 2012
Mountains Beyond Mountains
"Beyond mountains, there are mountains." The Haitians use this term to express when an obstacle has been overcome, the next one follows almost immediately afterwards. In life, this usually seems to be the case. Many people’s solution to a complication is to surrender to it. Paul Farmer is an exception to this. He is a man that has persevered through life, battling his own problems, while drastically improving and saving the lives of thousands. Farmer’s eminent passion for treating unhealthy patients was never deterred by the obstacles he faced in the poverty stricken countries such as Haiti.
Haiti is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world. Perhaps, in this statement lies the reason Haiti has become so significant to Farmer. Farmer’s main goal is to provide first world medical care to third world countries. He believes that everyone, no matter where they are from, have right to the same medical attention. If something can be done to prevent a death, it should be done by all means. There is a term that Farmer uses called Epidemiological Divide, which refers to the division between the people who have access to proper healthcare and the people who die at a young age from a preventable cause. Farmer wants to eradicate this divide and provide equality for patients in impoverished communities. In hopes of doing so, Paul Farmer co-founded Partners In Health.
Partners In Health (PIH) is a non-profit organization that provides medical assistance to the poor. Today, this organization supports 12 different countries around the world. Although it was not an easy process to build this institution, Farmer had faith it would flourish into something extremely beneficial to so many communities. And it did. It strives to do whatever it takes to make an ill person recover from whatever it may be they are suffering from. Whether it is tuberculosis or