NIH's National Library of Medicine Opens Exciting
New Interactive Exhibition, "Against the Odds: Making a
Difference in Global Health"
The National Library of Medicine, the world's largest medical
library and a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
will open a new interactive exhibition, "Against the Odds:
Making a Difference in Global Health" with a special program
Wednesday, April 16, 10:00-11:00 a.m. in Lister Hill Auditorium,
Building 38A, on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. The exhibition
opens to the public April 17.
"Against the Odds" presents a look at the public health
problems posed by Hurricane Katrina. It showcases the barefoot
doctors program, which trained over one million young people to
treat the common ailments of residents of rural China in the 1960s
and 1970s. The exhibition also profiles a campaign for oral rehydration
in Bangladesh that was so successful that it has been adopted in
Afghanistan as well. In another example of nation-to-nation collaboration, "Against
the Odds" shows how the Pholela Health Center in South Africa
inspired the community health center movement in the U.S.
Throughout, harnessing the best of 21st century technology, engaging
text and graphics, and interesting objects, "Against the Odds" focuses
on how individuals and communities, in collaboration with scientists,
advocates, governments and international organizations, have made
and are making a difference in the health of people around the
globe.
"The National Library of Medicine has long been more of an
international library than a national one," observed NLM Director
Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg. "Most of the scientific articles
we index are written outside the U.S. and almost half of the MEDLINE
(www.pubmed.gov) inquiries we receive are from outside this country.
We have many formal partnerships with other nations, too, to provide
training and to facilitate interlibrary loan.
"The fact that the Internet has made our vast holdings accessible
to people around the globe certainly helps in the fight against
the complex and widespread health challenges facing the world today," he
continued. "'Against the Odds' captures many of the successes
in world health policy, such as the eradication of smallpox, and
cautions us about potential pitfalls, like the kind of discrimination
that can take place when people don't understand the facts about
the transmission of HIV/AIDS."
"People all over the world share a commitment to a better
life and a healthier future for all," commented Dr. Elizabeth
Fee, chief of NLM's History of Medicine Division. "This exhibition
highlights some of their achievements as well as the challenges
that remain, and encourages each of us to join the fight for health
and human rights." Dr. Fee's office manages the Library's
exhibition program.
The opening program will feature persons whose stories appear
in the exhibition, such as:
- Dr. Victoria Cargill, director of clinical studies and director
of minority research of the NIH Office of AIDS Research, Bethesda,
Md., and a respected AIDS clinician in Washington, D.C.;
- Dr. Jack Geiger, New York City, a founding member and past
president of Physicians for Human Rights, and the architect of
the community health center network in the United States; and
- Jeanne White Ginder, Leesburg, Fla., mother of the late Ryan
White, and an advocate for people living with HIV and AIDS.
The session will also feature a panel of young activists. They
are:
- Gyawu Mahama, Washington, D.C. and Peachtree City, Ga. An undergraduate
at the George Washington University, pursuing a double major
in international affairs and global public health, Mahama is
an active member of the GW chapter of the Student Global AIDS
Campaign (SGAC). He has participated in World AIDS Day demonstrations,
and his chapter of SGAC helped provide free oral HIV testing
to GWU students;
- Niko and Theo Milonopoulos, Palo Alto, Calif. The brothers,
students at Stanford University, founded Kidz Voice-LA and Vox
Populi after a series of shootings in their hometown, North Hollywood.
They encourage young people to get involved in the prevention
of gun violence, have led marches and rallies, and have testified
at legislative hearings;
- Michael Tees, M.D., M.P.H. (May 2008), New Orleans, La. Tees
co-founded the Tulane University chapter of Student Physicians
for Social Responsibility during his first year of medical school,
in 2004. The group educates students and the local community
about environmental health issues. After Hurricane Katrina, the
organization maintained its educational mission and continued
its community-based emphasis by working with local groups. One
such project, Releaf New Orleans, involved planting trees in
neighborhoods devastated by the storm; and
- Tanya Wansom, Ann Arbor, Mich. As a medical student at the
University of Michigan and a member of the American Medical Student
Association (AMSA), Wansom has trained future physicians to educate
middle and high school students about HIV/AIDS.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will moderate a discussion
with the persons listed above. NLM Director Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg
will also make remarks.
The audience for the April 16 program, which is meant not only
to educate but to inspire, will include students from: Quince Orchard
High School, Gaithersburg, Md.; Blessed Sacrament School, Washington,
D.C.; Woodrow Wilson High School, Washington, D.C.; and the Medical
and Health Specialty Program at Maury High School, Norfolk, Va.
After the formal program, the speakers and the audience will adjourn
for the ribbon cutting in NLM's exhibition space, and explore the
exhibition with its curator and senior NLM staff.
Please contact Kathy Cravedi (cravedik@mail.nlm.nih.gov and 301-594-7170)
or Melanie Modlin (mm354i@nih.gov and 301-496-7771) at the National
Library of Medicine for access to the following resources, available
in advance to members of the press:
- By-appointment preview tours of the exhibition, 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m., April 8-14, 2008
- Thumbnails of images from the exhibition
- Availability of key NLM staff and individuals featured in the
exhibition, for interviews before, during and after the opening
event
- A DVD with interviews and images featured in the exhibition
The program, with captioning, will be available as a live videocast, at http://videocast.nih.gov/, and the archived proceedings can be viewed afterwards.
Located in Bethesda, Md., the National Library of Medicine is
the world's largest library of the health sciences. For more information,
visit the Web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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