The Work of Dr Paul Farmer
2022; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 41; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1097/dcc.0000000000000526
ISSN1538-8646
Autores Tópico(s)Disaster Response and Management
ResumoThis month's Book and Media serves as a special tribute to a global leader in health care, Dr Paul Farmer. Years ago, Dr Farmer set out to heal the world. A few weeks ago, this world-renowned infectious disease doctor, global health advocate, and author from Boston died at the age of 62. As a physician in Boston and an educator at Harvard, Dr Farmer lived a life of great purpose that extended far beyond the comforts of Boston's best academic medical organizations. He cofounded Partners in Health, an organization that states, "We believe quality health care is a universal human right. Around the world, we fight injustice by providing care first to those who need it most" (https://www.pih.org). In February of 2022, Partners in Health reported that Dr Farmer passed away unexpectedly, in Rwanda, from an acute cardiac event while he was sleeping. His death is a shock to all who knew him and a tragic loss for all those he has helped. Farmer's service to the poor in Haiti, Peru, Rwanda, Russia, Cuba, and other areas has been a lesson for global health. With his colleagues in Partners in Health, Farmer traveled to West Africa and worked at some of the first encampments set up for Ebola patients. Dr Farmer worked tirelessly for decades in impoverished medical environments to provide crisis recovery, teach others, and establish sustainable public-health connections. His legacy will live on and is well documented by his writings and the work of esteemed authors who curated his work. We are honored to share some of this work in DCCN. The journalist Tracy Kidder wrote of his work often. Kidder offers a thoughtful view of what it takes to live with both idealism and humility. ARTICLES The Good Doctor (2000) (https://www.newyorker) In this piece, Kidder follows Farmer as he tends to patients at Zanmi Lasante, a medical complex located in Haiti's Central Plateau. A Doctor in the Rubble (2010) (https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-doctor-in-the-rubble) January 19, 201 BOOKS Farmer P. Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History (2021)Dr Farmer's most recent book was released in November 2020. The book centers on the Ebola outbreak of 2014 in 3 West African countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, all impoverished countries. Ebola spread in a disastrous pattern through body fluids, but it was directly related to inequality. Farmer reminds us that Ebola and other viruses, such as coronaviruses, are spread in part through caregiving practices common to all cultures. Much of this is complicated by war disruption of homes, migrations, and refugee housing. Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds is not an easy read, but does illuminate the challenges of public health in constrained environment. His emphasis is on containment—isolating individuals, families, and communities to control the virus. A focus on care alone is likely to fail. Farmer closes the book with insights written in April 2020 as the coronavirus began to rage. He raises awareness about how the novel virus has affected Black, Latino, and Indigenous Americans disproportionately. His wise words haunt us: "The quaint notion that respiratory pathogens do not discriminate—because we all draw breath—is almost never true, and it's already proven false as regards this new coronavirus." Farmer saw global racial inequalities, long before COVID-19 illuminated this truth.Kidder T. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World (2003) This book was written in 2003 and takes the reader from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia. Dr Paul Farmer's work reflects a life of meaning and commitment to international health. The book has been reproduced in many editions, including one specifically produced for young readers. In addition, a teacher's guide was produced to facilitate discussion among students, but may also serve a book or journal type club for adults. After I read the book, I learned that the title of the book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, is taken from a Haitian proverb that translates as "beyond mountains there are mountains." My interpretation of this is that we will never be done, and this remains true today as there is much work that still needs to be done in this area. Farmer knew that even as you solve one problem—another presents itself—and you must go on to solve that one too. I found the book fascinating and disturbing. It made me question everything I thought I knew about public health on a global scale. As a provider, I was just beginning to learn about access and health care and global distribution of wealth and health. Lessons from this book guided my approach to public health on a local level and inspired an understanding of what one person can do to challenge inequities in health care on every level.Farmer P. To Repair the World (2013) This book is a collection of short speeches by Dr Paul Farmer. In his quest for global health equity and social justice, Farmer encourages young people to tackle the greatest challenges of our times. This book is a gift for all health care providers and students, as well as those seeking to help bend the arc of history toward justice; To Repair the World challenges us to think more deeply about global health and health disparities. Farmer's vision is clear, we can make the world a more humane, safer place—and there is much we can do as health care providersGriffin M, Block JW, eds. In the Company of the Poor: Conversations With Dr Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, Reimagining Global Health: An Introduction (2013) Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Dominican theologian from Peru, is widely recognized as one of the preeminent voices of liberation theology. In this book, he joins Dr Paul Farmer, who at the time served as UN's Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti and Chair of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard. He also served as professor of anthropology at Harvard Medical School, chief of Social Medicine and Inequalities at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, and founding director of Partners in Health and was awarded the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's "genius award." The men share a passion for health care and share strategies and lessons about social justice, medicine, and global health. Editors Michael Griffin and Jennie Weiss Block do great job communicating the thoughts and conversations of these 2 men. Paul Farmer's loss is devastating, but his vision for the world will live on through Partners in Health. His books and scholarly work will continue to inform generations, and hopefully, we will be wise enough to learn. Farmer was the cofounder of Partners in Health. Their official website reminds us "Injustice has a cure" (https://www.pih.org/article/remembering-dr-paul-farmer).
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