RX for Survival - A Global Health Challenge
by Gail Willumsen, Mike Beckham, Richard Dale, Sarah Holt, Tabitha Jackson
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DVD details
Actor: Brad Pitt, Jacob Gaffney, Julia Joyce, Trevor WhiteDirector: Gail Willumsen, Mike Beckham, Richard Dale, Sarah Holt, Tabitha Jackson
Brand: WGBH BOSTON VIDEO
Producer: Gail Willumsen
Writer: Gail Willumsen
Writer: Mike Beckham
Writer: Sarah Holt
Writer: Tabitha Jackson
Producer: Alexis Bloom
Producer: Andrew Young
Writer: Andrew Young
Producer: Gina Marsh
Producer: Jill Shinefield
Producer: Kim Bour
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 336 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
DVD Reviews of RX for Survival - A Global Health Challenge
DVD Review: 5 stars +++++++
Summary: 5 Stars
By coincidence, I was just talking to a friend about the magazine, Time's profile of extraordinary people taking on the global health crises, when this came on PBS. This was incredible. PBS is known for their award winning documentaries but this exceeded my expectations. Their coverage on epidemics covered older and newer crises from Influenza, Cholera to most recent Ebola, AIDS, and the Avian Flu while also touching on noncommunacable problems such as Vitamin deficiency, polluted drinking water, childhood obesity, and sanitation problems faced in emerging, overpopulated countries.
PBS also included people mentioned in Time magazine such as a the gentleman who recruited mothers and grandmothers to give Vitamin A capsules throughout Nepal, and the man who helped tap natural springs to provide safe drinking water in Africa (forgive me for not knowing their names). I was amazed that just simple ways could help prevent epidemics and how vulnerable we are to having a disease and spreading it.
Some highlights include re-enactments of how past epidemics began, how the source of the outbreak was discovered, and what scientists were influential in the control and prevention of the problem. These re-enactments showed how the flu that killed in the early 1900s were attributed to poor sanitation and living among animals which caused mutation of the virus to humans, and how cholera in late 1800 London could be linked to one drinking pump which had busted and was mixing in with a sewer line.
The documentary is also extraordinary because it touches on topics that you wouldnt think of as epidemics or global crises which includes heart disease and child obesity. I am a cardiac nurse and I know from experience that many people are being admitted for heart attacks in their early 40s and 50s with no family history. The documentary profiles children's obesity and shows how we went from a country (referring to the USA which ranks first in obesity) of underweight children in the 1900s to markedly obese currently. I was astonished by the correlations they drew to the conveniences we have with food, decreased need for childhood labor in the home (farm, etc), and just the lack of reasons to walk. One 12 year old shown had already tripled his risk for heart disease and was prediabetic.
This documentary was very long but throughout I was pealed to the set. I became more aware of the threat that Avian Bird Flu truly has and how there are similarities to the 1900 Influenza epidemic that literally killed people overnight. I also understood the scare when ebola was first reported through the re-enactment of nuns in Zaire screaming that everyone in the community and hospital was dead. I really appreciated the commentaries from people who had been there or scholars and scientists who researched the epidemics.
As you can tell this documentary was so important and it includes everything that you would need to know about global threats of past and present. I have already pre-ordered the set and encourage anyone (especially professers) who is interested in global health to order this too. Also at Time.org, you can read the article profiling the people who have made a difference in Global Health.
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Description of RX for Survival - A Global Health Challenge
At the dawn of the 21st century, the health of the world is at a critical crossroads. Malaria, tuberculosis, and other diseases virtually eliminated from developed countries routinely claim millions of lives in developing nations. More than 40 new or emergent diseases like Ebola fever, SARS, West Nile virus, and avian flu have appeared within the last 30 years. Strains of "superbugs" resistant to our best drugs mystify modern medicine, while HIV/AIDS still lacks a vaccine and continues to ravage the world.Yet the problems of global health are not without solutions. During the late 19th and 20th centuries, a "golden era" in medicine spurred the greatest health revolution in human history. Powerful vaccines and antibiotics, clean water and sanitation, proper nutrition and a strong public health infrastructure protected whole populations from infectious disease and increased average life expectancy, especially in developed countries. But the benefits of this revolution have not reached everyone. Infectious diseases that are curable still persist, and deadly new killers are on the rise. In a globalized world, communicable diseases can travel anywhere in a matter of hours.
Why has it taken so long to avert a health crisis that has been preventable for decades? What will it take to get the benefits of medical science and the strategies of disease prevention to all the world?s people? Filmed in over twenty countries and narrated by actor Brad Pitt, Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge looks closely at the most critical health threats facing the world today. This six- part documentary series presents the compelling stories and real-life drama of those who are proving that solutions are indeed possible ? and that lives can be saved right now, the world over.
Includes: Disease Warriors, Rise of the Superbugs, Delivering the Goods, Deadly Messengers, Back to the Basics, and How Safe Are We?.
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