The Writing on the Wall

"Those who live, work, and think in rich material and intellectual environments understandably tend to take for granted their wealth, democracy, and civil society. They may have little direct knowledge or comprehension of how their societies have acquired, and continue to acquire--including through exploitation of distant others--the resources that enable them to lead comfortable lives. They are also remote from the 'world of victims' and from the difficulties faced by colleagues who are endeavoring to sustain universal professional ideals and accessible services in poor, nondemocratic, and oppressive countries, in which a myriad of overt and covert forces influence and obstruct them. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has highlighted some of these issues both in relation ot research in developing countries and in making new therapies available to those most in need. The impact of the SARS epidemic on Toronto was a wake-up call to the fact that privileged societies are not immune to the health, security, and economic threats posed by the emergence and spread of new infectious diseases."