Hello Brian,
Reading your 'ten pence worth' of analysis of the political system is worth
its weight in gold -- or whatever precious metal happens to be the top
trader on the commodities market!?
I find myself a bit cynical at the moment: perhaps it's the late hour, or
most likely, it's in response to the debate between Clinton & Dole.
While I would like to believe -with all my heart--that humanitarian
sentiments would be the raison d'etre for the sharing of any scientific
break-through that may happen in the U.S.A., or the U.K. or any other
country, I must admit that I know better!! The way to gain support for the
bill (and I agree with Barbara Mallut that we should ask for much more than
100 million) is to show HOW MUCH $$$ could be made by supporting an export
related industry. Pharmaceuticals and medical technology are two of the
leading export industries. Just take a look at the earnings projections for
any of the large, international pharm. companies.
The other side of the 'ten pence' is: showing how much $$ is lost due to the
growing expenses of caring for the baby boomers who are coming of PWP age
(wasn't it Ken Aidekman who said that 1000 newly diagnosed PWP per week
means that 1 new PWP receives the diagnosis every 10 minutes?).
Let's show these stats to our non-supportive friends running re-election
campaigns. And then when we have their attention, we can interject that the
international role of the U.S. can only benefit by the goodwill that would
be generated. There are issues in today's world that transcend nationalism
and ethnocentricism: medicine is one, art is another. I wonder if The World
Health Organization has a neurologic arm?
We have nothing to lose by trying and everything to lose by not trying. Or,
let me end this on a positive: we have everything to gain!
Good Night Friend,
Margaret Tuchman(54yrs,dx1980)
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