Inspiring

PBS is a lot like a poor man’s cable. Discovery channel, travel channel, and TLC all roll into one. That’s why the last two nights I’ve found myself glued to the TV watching “RX For Survival.”

The stories on this show are great. Curing night blindness with 2 drops of Vitamin A every six month? Done. Eradicating Small Pox? Done. Vaccinate every child under the age of 5 in New Deli against Polio? Done.

I don’t want to sound too altruistic but I find this show extremely inspiring. These doctors, nurses, and every day people take it upon themselves to better the lives of the people around the world. The creativity in the medical field seems to be the right approach. How do you deliver vitamin A to children in a rural Nepalese town? Have a parade with music and as the children come out drop the vitamin A into their mouth. The doctors give out polio vaccines in the train stations in New Deli and get on the train running from child to child dropping the vaccine into their mouth before the train pulls out of the station. In an act as simple as getting on a train they have saved a person from living a life of horrible disability.

The show also focused on American problems as well. Things like upscale parents not wanting their children vaccinated because of the negative effect it might have in the long run. I find this to stupid and irresponsible. By not vaccinating their child they are putting the country at risk. The more people a virus infects the more likely it will be to mutate and become more deadly.

I can tell you right now, no one wants polio to make a come back.