“We all breath the same air . . .”
I recently read an op-ed on about development written by the executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
I know it sounds bizarre–what do drugs and crime have to do with development?–but the evidence is clear: we cannot afford to ignore the poverty in Africa and Asia, not only because it is wrong, but for our own safety.
The op-ed recounts the story of an African police chief who tried to stop a major shipment of drugs to Europe, and who was “so incorruptible that he sleeps beside the drugs to prevent the multi-million-dollar evidence from disappearing” Yet, in the end, the country was simply too poor to do something with the evidence and stop the crime. The author’s conclusion was clear, “countries like Guinea Bissau need help, fast. While the amount of investment needed is minimal, failure to act will be very costly.”
While it is important to iterate ONE’s message of doing the right thing to fight poverty and disease, we can also spread the word that when we fail to fight poverty we allow more drugs to reach our streets and kill our children. We leave children desperate and make it easy for al-Qaida to find new recruits. When we think that a landlocked country in the middle of nowhere will never cause us problems, we only need one word to snap ourselves back to reality: “Afghanistan.”
The bottom line is that, as President Kennedy said, “We all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” And it’s time to remind members of Congresspeople worried about the “cost” of public health that the cost of inaction is much great.
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