On
November 2nd, I started Day 2’s Post for National Health Blog Post Month but real life interfered with my writing. Although it is a bit late, I wanted to share my “Inspirational Quotation” with you.
The issue of “injustice in health care” has been the
“call to action” that inspires much of my community outreach and professional
work. With each community activity, I try to do my part in helping to
eliminate the “injustice in health care” that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke
about at the
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Over
the years, the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have inspired many people
to action including me (and my alter-ego). Although virtual worlds did not
exist during Dr. King’s life, his words still inspired many colleagues working within
virtual world communities as in real life. When we were asked to find an
inspirational quote for Day 2 of National Health Blog Post Month, Dr. King
words about “injustice in health care” again echoed in my ears. When I sought out Dr. King’s exact quotation,
I found an excellent article in The Charlotte Observer written by Dr. Jessica Schorr Saxe. Being a Charlotte physician and a board member of
the Health Care for All North Carolina, it is apparent that Dr. Saxe was
also inspired by the words of Dr. King. At the 1966 Second National Convention of the Medical
Committee for Human Rights in Chicago, IL (USA), the words of Dr. King rang out…
"Of all the forms of inequality,
injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
As I
read Dr. Saxe’s article entitled,
“Next civil rights frontier? It surely has to be health care”, I found myself thinking of the
12 year old African-American boy who died of a toothache several years ago. Yes,
you read right… a toothache! Apparently
the boy’s family had lost its health insurance which happens so often after the
loss of a job; a medical bankruptcy, or another life challenge. As in many
cases, the young boy’s family had no health insurance and could not afford the
expense of a dentist for… a toothache.
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| University of Maryland Dental School in Second Life |
Many people may not realize that an untreated
toothache can lead to intense pain, gum swelling, and even death. In the case
of the young boy, a toothache did indeed lead to death. His untreated toothache
lead to his admission to the hospital but too much time had passed. Apparently
an infection from a dental abscess had spread to his brain which resulted in
his death. Yes, a toothache!
This young boy was just one of many
victims of the “injustice in healthcare” which still exist 46 years after Dr.
King spoke on “injustice in health care”. So, I definitely agree with Dr.
Saxe’s statement… “Dr. King would find the next civil rights frontier in health
care, with nearly 50 million uninsured, almost 45,000 deaths annually due to
lack of insurance, and more than half of all personal bankruptcies linked to
illness and medical bills.”
Thus, my inspiration for
community outreach, collaborations, and related activities. With still much
work to be done in our cities, the words of Dr. King are indeed our
"call to action"…
"Of all the forms of inequality,
injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(1966)
Related Health Links
Maryland Health Care for All!2011 National Healthcare Disparities Report (AHRQ)
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