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Letter
Remembering Jonathan M. Mann
in a World Ajar
Kathleen F. Gensheimer*
*Maine Department of Human Services, Augusta, Maine, USA
Suggested citation
for this article:
Gensheimer KF. Remembering Jonathan M. Mann in a world ajar. Emerg Infect
Dis [serial online] 2003 Sept [date cited]. Available from: URL:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no9/03-0381.htm
September 2003 marks
the anniversary of the deaths of Jonathan M. Mann and his wife Mary
Lou Clements aboard Swiss Air flight 111, which crashed off the shore
of Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, 5 years ago. Although Jonathan and I were
both members of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
in the early 1980s, when Jonathan served as state epidemiologist for
New Mexico, our paths did not cross until years later in 1990. Jonathan
had reluctantly resigned as director, Global AIDS Activities, World
Health Organization, to become full professor at Harvard School of Public
Health. I had taken a year’s leave of absence from my position in Maine
to enroll in Harvard’s Master of Public Health program.
In a talk at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jonathan
once outlined many of his hopes and fears for AIDS activities worldwide.
Moved by his pleas for global commitment to the epidemic, I sought out
Jonathan at the opening reception for new Harvard students. I shared his
dreams for public health activism. We believed in inspiring others to
careers in applied public health, so we initiated a brown bag lunch series
for students and faculty to share experiences about work in public health
(1). The common thread throughout these discussions was
universal human rights and respect for human dignity.
Jonathan went on to establish the Francis Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health
and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health and used his position
to promote health as the broad-based core of human values. His lectures
on universal human rights centered on the idea that health transcends
geographic, political, economic, and cultural barriers. Jonathan drew
on his past experiences with the HIV epidemic to argue that the developing
world would never achieve economic or political stability unless the health
of its people improved. He maintained that, if not addressed, the health
problems of the developing world would pose a global threat. “Public health,”
he wrote, “too often studies health without intruding upon larger, societal,
inescapably laden issues…. If the public health mission is to assure the
conditions in which people can achieve the highest attainable state of
physical, mental and social well-being, and if these essential conditions
predominantly are societal, then public health must work for societal
transformation” (2).
Jonathan argued that discrimination and other violations of human rights
were primary pathologic forces working against the improvement of public
health and that if we ignored the plight of those whose rights were violated,
we would be less than human ourselves. Jonathan very much admired Eleanor
Roosevelt, chair, Declaration of Human Rights Drafting Committee, who
on the 10th anniversary of the declaration asked, “Where, after all, do
universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close
and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Such are
the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal
opportunity and, equal dignity. Without concerted citizen action to uphold
them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world”
(3).
On Jonathan’s desk at Harvard, amidst family photographs, was a framed
joker taken from an ordinary deck of cards. When I asked about its significance,
he responded that, despite life's challenges, it remains important to
smile. So smile we must at the memory of Jonathan and his many accomplishments.
Each year, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists remembers
by holding a distinguished lecture named in honor of Jonathan M. Mann.
The public health practitioner must respond to the needs of people and
yet be sensitive to world politics. In solving difficult issues, the practitioner
must understand the interconnection of social values and scientific truths
and work collaboratively with the medical community. Moved to the forefront
by recent acts of terrorism, public health has achieved recognition as
first responder and as integral part of planning for and responding to
catastrophic health crises. We cannot promote safety and security if we
fail to recognize, and advocate for, people around the globe who do not
have access to basic health care, adequate living and working conditions,
or education to enlighten their response to life’s challenges. The anniversary
of Dr. Mann’s untimely death serves as reminder to the medical and public
health communities of the ongoing need to promote universal human rights
and to focus energies and resources on a global approach to public health.
Acknowledgment
The author thanks
Richard E. Hoffman, former state epidemiologist, Colorado Department
of Public Health and Environment, for his help in preparing this article.
References
- Gensheimer KF, Read JS, Mann JM. Physicians
and medical students: factors affecting entry into public health.
Am J Prev Med 1994;10:238–9.
- Mann JM. Society
and public health: crisis and rebirth. West J Med 1998;169:118–21.
- Roosevelt E. In your hands: a guide for community action for the tenth
anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights. New York:
United Nations; 1958.
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