DVD release of the six-hour PBS television series that premiered November 1-3, 2005 and a two-hour special presentation on April 12, 2006. Special features: NOW interview with former President Jimmy Carter; dispatches from experts in the field; materials for educators; activities for exploring global health issues; access to the Rx for Survival web site. Narrator, Brad Pitt. Experts include Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; reporter Laurie Garrett; Harvey Fineberg, President of the National Academies of Sciences Institute of Medicine; Nils Daulaire, President of the Global Health Council; and Donald Hopkins, the Associate Executive Director of the Carter Center
Contents:
disc 1. Disease warriors. Rise of the superbugs -- disc. 2. Delivering the goods. Deadly messengers -- disc 3. Back to the basics. How safe are we?
Summary:
Over the past 150 years, stunning breakthroughs in public health have enabled humans to live longer, healthier and more productive lives. But the benefits of public health have yet to be extended to many of the poorest nations in the developing world. Meanwhile, in the past two decades, infectious diseases that had nearly been conquered, such as tuberculosis, have come surging back, while devastating new diseases such as AIDS, SARS and West Nile Virus have emerged. Microbial resistance to many modern drugs is rising, threatening people everywhere. And in our world of globalized travel, the latest epidemic is only a plane ride away. The program examines the most critical health threats facing the world today by portraying conditions in over twenty countries, examining why diseases that are curable still persist, the efforts to treat them, and the dangers of new "superbugs." Employing both historical dramatic sequences and poignant current documentary stories, the series showcases key milestones in public health history, such as the eradication of smallpox, alongside modern and future challenges, including SARS, a potential global flu pandemic and recovery from the Asian tsunami catastrophe.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.