Rx for survival: a global health challenge
Authors: Marilynn Larkin
Journal: The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2005)

336 minutes on three DVDs or VHS; $39·95. Available January, 2006. http://www.pbs.org/rxforsurvival Rx for survival represents an heroic effort to raise awareness among the general public, particularly in the USA, about the toll infectious diseases and other major health problems are taking in the less developed world. The six-part series also strives to balance issues that are “journalistically tough” to cover—for example, the scourge of AIDS and river blindness in Africa—with “optimism” about potential solutions, producer Larry Klein told TLID. “We tried desperately to be journalistically sound and not overly negative, and to look at some of the projects that have great track records of working.” In this viewer's opinion, Klein and his colleagues succeeded admirably in their efforts to balance realism and optimism. As importantly, the series does a terrific job of educating. “We started working on these kinds of programmes 25 years ago, in an era when it looked like we were on top of our game insofar as treatments for infectious diseases were concerned. There was a tremendous feeling of euphoria, that there was nothing we couldn't do”, says Klein. But with the advent of AIDS, of serious antimicrobial resistance, and of complacency about the need for a real global infrastructure, “we hit a wall. We had to accept that although we had had some real successes in the developed world, these diseases were doing quite well in less developed countries.” Therefore, the concept for Rx for survival started with the question, “what happened in the past 25 years, and what can we do to bring those successes back?” The series unfolds like a mystery, beginning with a look at “disease warriors” such as Louis Pasteur, who showed that illnesses were caused by germs. “Rise of the superbugs” chronicles the discovery of penicillin and the subsequent development of “wonder drugs”—and the pathogens that evolved to resist them. Viewers familiar with infectious diseases may appreciate the engaging way these stories are told, but are likely to find little new in the way of information in the first two parts of the series. By contrast, “Delivering the goods” is eye-opening, highlighting novel programmes that help overcome the obstacles to providing care to populations in need. Riders for Health (figure), founded by Andrea and Barry Coleman in the UK, has helped local health departments from Ghana to Zimbabwe acquire and maintain hundreds of motorcycles to make health-care workers more mobile. Mechai Viravaidya, chairman of Thailand's Population and Community Development Association, promoted condom use in the 1980s by persuading Buddhist monks to bless them and taxi drivers to hand them out; now, he is battling the AIDS epidemic with programmes that educate drug dealers and sex workers. Dora Akunyili, head of Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, is waging war against counterfeit and adulterated medications. Under her watch, millions of dollars worth of “useless” drugs were seized and destroyed in the past few years. “Deadly messengers” examines historical and current efforts to control the spread of vector-borne diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, and West Nile virus. “Back to basics” looks at the connection between illness and proper nutrition (including obesity, the result of an “overabundance” of nutrition); and “How safe are we?” covers ebolavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and avian influenza, warning of the risk of a pandemic while making the case for stronger public-health systems globally to help counteract the threat. Although some of this makes for painful viewing, “our hidden agenda was to show that the situation is not hopeless, and that there are things we can do as individuals and nations that will make a difference”, emphasises Klein. Therefore, the DVD is only a piece of a global health campaign that is almost daunting in scope (see panel). “We thought that by putting all our media partners together, we'd increase that awareness hit so that everything starts to take root. Public health is still a ‘hard sell’. We hope we've made some inroads.”PanelThe bigger pictureRx for survival was conceived as a multimedia project aimed at creating an understanding of the importance of global health issues in everyone's lives and inspiring a national dialogue about the role of the USA in addressing serious health issues. In addition to the DVD, highlights of the initiative include: •A dedicated website, which includes comprehensive resources related to global health and child survival (http://www.pbs.org/rxforsurvival).•A companion book, Rx for survival: why we must rise to the global health challenge, by Philip Hilts (published by Penguin Books).•Rx for child survival, an outreach campaign to raise awareness and encourage volunteers and donations (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/campaign).•A Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health global health course, available free of charge to undergraduates at interested colleges and universities starting in January 2006 (http://www.jhsph.edu).•The Global Health Summit (New York City; November 1–3, 2005) brought together international leaders in medicine, government, business, public policy, development, and the arts to address the world's health situation. Rx for survival was conceived as a multimedia project aimed at creating an understanding of the importance of global health issues in everyone's lives and inspiring a national dialogue about the role of the USA in addressing serious health issues. In addition to the DVD, highlights of the initiative include: •A dedicated website, which includes comprehensive resources related to global health and child survival (http://www.pbs.org/rxforsurvival).•A companion book, Rx for survival: why we must rise to the global health challenge, by Philip Hilts (published by Penguin Books).•Rx for child survival, an outreach campaign to raise awareness and encourage volunteers and donations (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/campaign).•A Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health global health course, available free of charge to undergraduates at interested colleges and universities starting in January 2006 (http://www.jhsph.edu).•The Global Health Summit (New York City; November 1–3, 2005) brought together international leaders in medicine, government, business, public policy, development, and the arts to address the world's health situation.