Spring Convocation

At the beginning of this semester, I went to the spring convocation with Diane Griffin. Most of her talk was about infectious diseases as a global problem. She informed us that most infectious diseases affect children. One of these infectious diseases are measles, which can be prevented by a vaccine that came out in the 60’s. Malaria and HIV/AIDS are also some examples of infectious diseases. Malaria is the largest cause of death in developing countries. This is really unfortunate because it is completely preventable with a vaccine. Another thing Diane Griffin talked about was the fact that there is a problem of acceptance with vaccines in developed countries. After traveling to some developed countries, I think this is definitely true. I have found that some individuals are in denial or they do not want the social stigma of having a disease, especially HIV/AIDS, associated with them. She also made the point that some individuals have a problem that the vaccine is not “natural,” there are too many shots, and some are concerned about safety and the vaccines causing autism. Overall, these issues are definitely very real and a major issue in the world today. As a wealthy, developed country, many middle class Americans are not confronted with these issues; however, it does affect many individuals around the world. When Diane explained that it was a global problem, she emphasized the fact that it threatens world peace, it hampers economic development, increases childhood mortality, and it also hampers education. All in all, I think that Diane Griffin made some very important points and discussed an extremely vital topic; however, I wish that she would have spent more time talking about what we, as Americans, can do to help with this issue. Much of her time presenting was explaining facts, research, and data. I think it might have been a little bit more effective if she would have related it to her audience more.

More information on Diane Griffin and her work can be found at:
http://faculty.jhsph.edu/?faculty_id=281