Troublesome

I found <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/15/AR2007091501647.html">this article</a> about pig disease in China very troublesome. I read it yesterday morning and had to let it run around my pea sized brain for a while but it struck me as a problem.<br />n<br />nWhat's so troublesome about it? China is so worried about making money off the vaccine for this disease, blue ear pig disease, that they won't share samples of it with the world community at large. That's really troublesome. This disease has now cropped up in Vietnam and Burma and who knows how far it might spread.<br />n<br />nChina says they don't need to share samples because they have an effective vaccine. What's the problem with sharing the samples so the whole world can protect themselves? What really troubles me about this is when does this philosophy ratchet up to the human level. Some disease comes along in China like SARS and they don't want to share samples because they want to develop the vaccine and human death and misery is the result. It hasn't happened yet but that is the philosophy we appear to be seeing here. Is such a philosophy right? Should the economic interests of making money trump out human and animal disease concerns? No, they shouldn't, that is why this is so troublesome.<br />n<br />nThen lets go really far afield with this idea. I am a reader of science fiction so looking beyond the trends to the outlandish appeals to me. What happens when biotech companies make viruses so they can sell vaccines to the public. That seems to be where China is leading this. The profit is more important than life, why not manufacture disease so that you can reap the profit selling the vaccine.<br />n<br />nBad disease precedent that China is setting here. Free and open flow of information is the only weapon we have when it comes to battling disease and saving lives and China is taking some steps to obliterate that weapon. What can be done about it is beyond me, but it is sad to see.<br />n<br />n<strong>Saving lives is not a top priority in the halls of power. Being compassionate and concerned about human life can cause a man to lose his job. It can cause a woman not to get the job to begin with. Myriam Miedzian</strong>