May 2009
So You're Scared of the Swine Flu?
05/04/09 01:39 PM Filed in: Media | Indiscriminate
President Obama,
Long time fan, first time writer.
With all due respect, and I don’t want this to come across as harsh or anything because I’m totally down with having you in office, but what’s the deal with you incorporating the Swine Flu “situation” into your First 100 speech? I just really don’t think medical affairs, especially ones as insignificant as the Swine Flu really is, should be addressed by the President of the United States. Why? Because when the President talks about things, people listen. I understand this new disease is a scary and unknown thing.
I’m fully aware that people have died from the Swine Flu, a strain of the H1N1 Influenza A virus, and that there isn’t a cure or treatment available for it at this time. Even still, it’s really not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be, and you getting on national news and alerting the public that the government is getting involved, labeling it a “serious situation,” and calling it a huge risk to the American public is just the perfect set up for fear breeding in our fair country.
It doesn’t really matter if you directly follow your comments with reassuring statements of how to avoid getting the infection (instructions that sound scarily similar to what we’re told in every doctor’s office to avoid any infection: wash your hands, don’t take public transit, skip school, etc.), that there’s no need to panic, and that you’ve requested $1.5 billion from Congress to help fight this new strain of the flu. The issue lies with the naivety of the American public and how much they look up to you. I think you’re failing to understand that when you issue a press release about an incurable disease and using big words like “pandemic,” people are going to stark freaking, even if you tell them not to.
In order to calm the American public on this issue and to heighten their awareness of real world issues, I have retrieved a few statistics and facts of my own in order to illustrate how big of a deal the Swine Flu is not. First let’s start with a few definitions for our own understanding:
pandemic: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
epidemic: affecting or tending to affect a disproportionally large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time.
plague: an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality.
By these definitions, and as it is being portrayed by President Obama and the Mainstream Media, Swine Flu is a pandemic as there are confirmed cases worldwide. But the Swine Flu doesn’t actually fit to any of the above definitions, and in the following paragraphs I will illustrate why.
After one confirmed death in the United States, you called this a “serious situation.” Really, Obama? One death renders a situation serious? If that’s the case, we have a lot of serious situations on our hands. Why aren’t you asking Congress for billions of dollars to throw at those problems? Since you like to throw monetary numbers at situations you deem serious and can’t (but still want to) control, I’ll throw a few of my own numbers around. Numbers of things that actually are serious situations but are completely overlooked by most of America and the world.
According to the CDC, in the United States alone:
-Heart disease kills about 650,000 people annually.
-Cancer is responsible for nearly 560,000 deaths annually.
-Strokes, respiratory disease, and accidents cause over 350,000 fatalities annually.
-Around 75,000 lives are taken by diabetes annually.
Malnutrition is either directly or indirectly responsible for more than 5 million painful deaths in the world every year. Over 300,000 of those deaths are in children under the age of five.
More than 50% of Africans suffer from water-related diseases. This could be resolved if more countries had access to clean water.
Statistically, a child dies every three seconds either directly or indirectly from HIV/AIDS, usually before their fifth birthday. It’s horrible that we should have to call these children “statistics.”
Many countries in Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe for example, reported in 2003 that over 30% of the population was infected with HIV/AIDS.
When it was popular, the Black Plague, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, caused 75 million deaths worldwide.
There are 200,000 estimated cases of Yellow Fever every year in the world, 30,000 of which will result in death annually.
Seasonal Influenza infects nearly five million humans annually worldwide and causes between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths each year.
I realize comparing something as miniscule as the Swine Flu to something as huge as the Black Plague is highly disproportionate, but with the hype it’s getting, some might actually buy that comparison. I did almost forget to provide the startling statistics from the Swine Flu infections and deaths, didn’t I? According to WHO (World Health Organization), there are nearly 1,500 confirmed cases of the Swine Flu with exactly 30 confirmed deaths. I’m not meaning to demean the value of human life. I am, however, trying to illustrate how ludicrous it is that our country is blowing an infection of such miniscule proportions to such a grand size. Thus far, Swine Flu, a strain of Influenza A, is responsible for 0.006% as many deaths as Influenza is annually.
My point is not to mock those who have been infected or died due to the Swine Flu. I just wonder why our government is involved in something this small, something the WHO is handling, when there are clearly people dying every second because they have no funds to purchase clean water and food. They have no money. And we’re throwing $1.5 billion at something that a confirmed thirty people have died from worldwide, only two of which have been in our own country. I’m sorry, but something just doesn’t seem right about this, President Obama. Why don’t we take our wealthy government’s money and put it to a good, responsible, non-selfish, practical use. Why don’t we stop talking about this Swine Flu, which can’t be a pandemic since it is not affecting a “large proportion of the population,” and start talking about how we can help countries less fortunate than our own, or how we can make our own country healthier and safer so millions don’t die from heart disease, cancer, strokes, and accidents. Millions, President Obama.
Why are you getting on TV and talking about something that is slaughtering less than 0.0006% as many people as malnutrition is children in Africa every year? The WHO’s job is to research and administer treatment to sick people. Heck, they have the word right in their title: “health.” You, however, do not.
Respectfully,
Your Loyal, Tax-Paying Citizen
Alex
Long time fan, first time writer.
With all due respect, and I don’t want this to come across as harsh or anything because I’m totally down with having you in office, but what’s the deal with you incorporating the Swine Flu “situation” into your First 100 speech? I just really don’t think medical affairs, especially ones as insignificant as the Swine Flu really is, should be addressed by the President of the United States. Why? Because when the President talks about things, people listen. I understand this new disease is a scary and unknown thing.
I’m fully aware that people have died from the Swine Flu, a strain of the H1N1 Influenza A virus, and that there isn’t a cure or treatment available for it at this time. Even still, it’s really not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be, and you getting on national news and alerting the public that the government is getting involved, labeling it a “serious situation,” and calling it a huge risk to the American public is just the perfect set up for fear breeding in our fair country.
It doesn’t really matter if you directly follow your comments with reassuring statements of how to avoid getting the infection (instructions that sound scarily similar to what we’re told in every doctor’s office to avoid any infection: wash your hands, don’t take public transit, skip school, etc.), that there’s no need to panic, and that you’ve requested $1.5 billion from Congress to help fight this new strain of the flu. The issue lies with the naivety of the American public and how much they look up to you. I think you’re failing to understand that when you issue a press release about an incurable disease and using big words like “pandemic,” people are going to stark freaking, even if you tell them not to.
In order to calm the American public on this issue and to heighten their awareness of real world issues, I have retrieved a few statistics and facts of my own in order to illustrate how big of a deal the Swine Flu is not. First let’s start with a few definitions for our own understanding:
pandemic: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
epidemic: affecting or tending to affect a disproportionally large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time.
plague: an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality.
By these definitions, and as it is being portrayed by President Obama and the Mainstream Media, Swine Flu is a pandemic as there are confirmed cases worldwide. But the Swine Flu doesn’t actually fit to any of the above definitions, and in the following paragraphs I will illustrate why.
After one confirmed death in the United States, you called this a “serious situation.” Really, Obama? One death renders a situation serious? If that’s the case, we have a lot of serious situations on our hands. Why aren’t you asking Congress for billions of dollars to throw at those problems? Since you like to throw monetary numbers at situations you deem serious and can’t (but still want to) control, I’ll throw a few of my own numbers around. Numbers of things that actually are serious situations but are completely overlooked by most of America and the world.
According to the CDC, in the United States alone:
-Heart disease kills about 650,000 people annually.
-Cancer is responsible for nearly 560,000 deaths annually.
-Strokes, respiratory disease, and accidents cause over 350,000 fatalities annually.
-Around 75,000 lives are taken by diabetes annually.
Malnutrition is either directly or indirectly responsible for more than 5 million painful deaths in the world every year. Over 300,000 of those deaths are in children under the age of five.
More than 50% of Africans suffer from water-related diseases. This could be resolved if more countries had access to clean water.
Statistically, a child dies every three seconds either directly or indirectly from HIV/AIDS, usually before their fifth birthday. It’s horrible that we should have to call these children “statistics.”
Many countries in Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe for example, reported in 2003 that over 30% of the population was infected with HIV/AIDS.
When it was popular, the Black Plague, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, caused 75 million deaths worldwide.
There are 200,000 estimated cases of Yellow Fever every year in the world, 30,000 of which will result in death annually.
Seasonal Influenza infects nearly five million humans annually worldwide and causes between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths each year.
I realize comparing something as miniscule as the Swine Flu to something as huge as the Black Plague is highly disproportionate, but with the hype it’s getting, some might actually buy that comparison. I did almost forget to provide the startling statistics from the Swine Flu infections and deaths, didn’t I? According to WHO (World Health Organization), there are nearly 1,500 confirmed cases of the Swine Flu with exactly 30 confirmed deaths. I’m not meaning to demean the value of human life. I am, however, trying to illustrate how ludicrous it is that our country is blowing an infection of such miniscule proportions to such a grand size. Thus far, Swine Flu, a strain of Influenza A, is responsible for 0.006% as many deaths as Influenza is annually.
My point is not to mock those who have been infected or died due to the Swine Flu. I just wonder why our government is involved in something this small, something the WHO is handling, when there are clearly people dying every second because they have no funds to purchase clean water and food. They have no money. And we’re throwing $1.5 billion at something that a confirmed thirty people have died from worldwide, only two of which have been in our own country. I’m sorry, but something just doesn’t seem right about this, President Obama. Why don’t we take our wealthy government’s money and put it to a good, responsible, non-selfish, practical use. Why don’t we stop talking about this Swine Flu, which can’t be a pandemic since it is not affecting a “large proportion of the population,” and start talking about how we can help countries less fortunate than our own, or how we can make our own country healthier and safer so millions don’t die from heart disease, cancer, strokes, and accidents. Millions, President Obama.
Why are you getting on TV and talking about something that is slaughtering less than 0.0006% as many people as malnutrition is children in Africa every year? The WHO’s job is to research and administer treatment to sick people. Heck, they have the word right in their title: “health.” You, however, do not.
Respectfully,
Your Loyal, Tax-Paying Citizen
Alex
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