Tackling a worldwide challenge from a different angle
The developing world still has strides to go in the realm of healthcare, and professionals face difficult improvements to this day.
A new book examines technological and other challenges involved with bringing healthcare to the developing world and is the focus of a panel discussion on Oct. 28 organized by Mount Royal University’s department of general education.
“The Grandest Challenge,” written by University of Toronto professors Dr.Abdallah Daar, Professor of Public Health Sciences and of Surgery, and Dr.Peter Singer, Professor of Medicine, looks at the issue of how to sustain a healthcare system in the developing world.
“We believe that in the end that the only sustainable solutions are those where local people find solutions to local problems, i.e. when the lab is in the village so to speak,” co-author Dr. Daar says in an email.
The launching of “The Grandest Challenge” coincides well with a regular fall book panel put on by the department, says Karim Dharamsi, chair of the Department of General Education at MRU.
Though the launch takes place around the same time as the regular fall book panel, Dharamsi says the book itself ties in well with the philosophy behind general education.
The book itself deals with challenges described by Dharamsi as “controversies in science.”
He says “The Grandest Challenge” describes the idea of exporting technology and other innovations in health from the west to parts of the world where the life span is significantly lower is a good thing. However, the cycle of dependence that has been a trend in this type of relationship cannot be repeated, he says.
Both authors, Singer and Daar, will be present at the book panel.
MRU’s own Anupam Das and Luba Butska, professors in economics and midwifery respectively, will be there to ask their own questions. The panel will be moderated by Brooks Decillia of CBC.
The event itself takes place today, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Pages in Kensington, 1135 Kensington Road NW. Everyone is welcome to attend.