Multipart Episodes TRNN on the Ebola Outbreak Africa Audio Share to Twitter Share to Facebook I support this network as contributors are allowed the time to develop their arguments - CM Log in and tell us why you support TRNN Bio Dr. Lawrence Brown is an activist, global health consultant, and Assistant Professor of Public Health at Morgan State University. He studies the role of racism, masculinity, and disinvested neighborhoods with regard to their impact on health. His research explores the intersection between history and public health. Transcript Ebola - Myths and RealitySHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. Im Sharmini Peries, coming to you from Baltimore. Defeating the rapid spread of the Ebola virus means addressing Ebola conspiracy beliefs head on. It will require a level of honesty and truth-telling that we have rarely mustered as a nation, writes our next guest, Dr. Lawrence Brown of Morgan State University. Lawrence Brown is assistant professor at the Department of Health Policy and Management at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Thanks for joining us. LAWRENCE BROWN, ASSIST. PROF. PUBLIC HEALTH, MORGAN STATE: Thank you for having me. PERIES: So, tell us, Lawrence, what did you mean by that? What is the history that Americans have, and what is it that it has to do in terms of tackling the conspiracy theory? BROWN: Well, first we have to think about medical conspiracy beliefs. And a lot of people dont like the term conspiracy beliefs, but in our field, in the literature, we think about conspiracy beliefs consisting of those beliefs that many people have that the government is not telling the truth, or perhaps that the government is hiding information as it relates to medication or medical-related interventions. PERIES: Why is this particularly relevant in the Ebola crisis? BROWN: Well, its really relevant because when we think about public health and we think about medicine, theres an underlying factor that binds the two together, and thats trust. Trust is the key factor between a doctor and a patient or the public health and the population thats being dealt with. So with Ebola, there are many conspiracy beliefs that are out there generating a lot of fear, perhaps a lot of paranoia. But I do think that these beliefs are often legitimate and founded in historical beliefs that have a lot of relevancy to this issue that were dealing with Ebola. PERIES: So are you saying that people in West Africa know and have this idea that Americans are somehow responsible for infecting their families with Ebola? BROWN: Right. I do think that there are some West Africans who maintain these beliefs that America is perhaps instilling or planting this virus in the environment to depopulate the African people. But I would like to say that conspiracy beliefs, medical conspiracy beliefs, are very common here in America as well. Theres a recent study released in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association that stated that 49 percent of Americans hold and maintain medical conspiracy beliefs. So this is not something thats unique to West Africans. Its actually quite common that people hold these beliefs that the government is somehow involved in some sort of nefarious way. PERIES: Those are very high numbers. BROWN: Very high. PERIES: And this is particular to African Americans, or just in the general public? BROWN: Well, when you think about it, African Americans are only about 13 percent of the population. So when half of Americans have these beliefs, were talking about a significant proportion of races outside of African Americans. So these beliefs range from everything including water fluoridation to the vaccine-autism connection, to HIV conspiracy beliefs, which are most commonly held in the black community. But the vaccine autism connection is common, actually, in the white community and across the socioeconomic scale--middle income and upper middle income folks tend to subscribe to those beliefs as well. PERIES: And do you think that Americans are actually believing that the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is actually also--somehow the government is responsible for it? BROWN: Well, I do think that it depends on a peoples history with the government or a peoples history with the organization or the nation thats coming into play. And so for Americans, if youve had the experience of abuse and medical mistreatment, when you think about the Tuskegee experiment or, rather, the United States public health experiment in Tuskegee, Alabama, or you think about the--. PERIES: Which is--explain it to us. BROWN: Oh, which is actually an experiment that was conducted by the United States Public Health Service where men, African-American men with syphilis were intentionally not treated for the disease, even though medicine existed for it at the time. And so the government wanted to find out, well, what happens in the course of the disease if we just allow it to run its natural course? And so hundreds of African-American men in that community were left untreated. They spread the disease to their partners. And this was all very intentional. Thats only what happened in the domestic arena. Its also recently we found out the United States Public Health Service also conducted experiments in Guatemala related to syphilis as well. So both domestically and abroad, the United States has this long history of engaging in public health espionage that I think give rise to a lot of beliefs that we label as conspiracy beliefs. PERIES: Lets talk about some of those other examples around the world. BROWN: Right. Well, there are many examples where the government has not engaged in an ethical manner as it relates to medication or medical or public health conspiracy beliefs or as it relates to those. So, for instance, we have the instance where just last year or earlier this year, the government actually admitted that the State Departments United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored a program or a company that went into Cuba and sponsored activities under the guise of HIV education, when really the folks were spying on the Cuban people and trying to foment revolution or rebellion against the Cuban government. A couple of years ago, when the CIA was trying to capture Osama bin Laden, they used a vaccination, hepatitis B vaccination program to really spy on the Pakistani people and conduct DNA testing to try to find out where Osama bin Laden was.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:23:13 +0000
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