Swine Flu, I'm Done With You

For the most part I watch two TV channels: ESPN and CNN. But as of late, I've been watching a lot of ESPN. There are two reasons why I have been watching a lot of ESPN: 1) because the Blazers and the Mariners have been doing very well as of late (although the Blazers just got eliminated), and 2) because I am sick of hearing about the Swine Flu epidemic. In my opinion, people are bored of hearing gloomy reports about job loss and the economy, so now the networks are on to something more interesting.

Now, I don't want to disregard the sickness and deaths that have resulted from this flu; However, I feel like the whole thing has been blown out of proportion. Whenever the United States is faced with a "crisis" like the Swine Flu, it's important that we keep a global perspective. Let's examine another life-threatening disease: malaria. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 41% of the world's population lives in areas where malaria is transmitted. Each year 350–500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, and over one million people die, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Again, I don't want to disregard the dangerousness of the Swine Flu, but honestly, compared to the devastation caused by malaria, perhaps there is at least one other issue more pressing than the Swine Flu. So what's my response to the Swine Flue outbreak? I'm supporting malaria prevention. If you too want to provide one family with mosquito nets and education for malaria prevention and control click HERE.