A Populist Movement for Health?

A Populist Movement for Health?

ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE SCIENCE-BASED MOVEMENTS TO RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF

a global problem has been Al Gore’s efforts, complementing the science-based work of the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change, to expose the perils of global warming. Through

decades of commitment, Gore and his team have laid out the science and consequences of

unmitigated consumption of fossil fuels and the irredeemable impact this will have on the planet

if unchecked. More than ever, this message is now resonating with the public.

Human health presents a similarly massive global problem. Globalization is accelerating the

spread of AIDS, drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, and other infectious agents. Industrialization,

with its accompanying sedentary life-styles and extended life spans, is creating new epidemics

of obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, among others. When a life-altering medical

condition is diagnosed, too often even the best in the medical community have few clues as

to the molecular mechanism at work, far less the ability to produce a cure

or prevent others from experiencing a similar fate. Despite increased

attention to health promotion, we focus on crisis and symptom management,

as opposed to prevention and cure, reflecting a limited understanding

of the molecular basis for disease.

Consider this: We now know that we are encoded by about 25,000

human genes and their products, many of which represent potential new

drug targets. Yet we have drugs for fewer than 200 of these gene products.

Moreover, of the approximately 20 to 30 new drug entities that the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration has been approving each year, only 3 to 5

address a new molecular target or novel mechanism. At this rate, it will

require hundreds of years to fully exploit our knowledge of human biology

to develop robust medical treatments. Despite the tools and technologies

of modern medical science, we are still in the Dark Ages of

understanding our own biology and discovering agents that can provide cures.

How can we stimulate innovation and enlightened public policy? Is a Gore-like populist

movement possible for global health? Although the science community has advocated more

funding to support the basic science that is crucial to understand disease and develop cures,

recent efforts have had little impact. In part, the science community is responsible because we

have not effectively helped the public realize that without a higher national and international priority

for basic research, a crisis in human health is not far off.

It is time for the scientific community to launch a bold combination strategy, the most important

element of which is to identify the “Al Gore(s)” of basic science. This requires increased

efforts and funding from scientific societies and advocacy organizations that are empowered to

deliver compelling messages to media and elected officials and can identify and provide financial

support for communicators for basic science. The research community needs champions

who can articulate a compelling long-term vision for research that can accelerate the needed

transition from a crisis/symptom mode to a prevention/cure mode of health care.

The second part of the strategy involves scientists’own time and, yes, money, to support such

advocacy groups. Both are scarce resources, but if scientists want to spur basic science that

underlies improving society, they must take personal responsibility to make it happen. Championing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjbNuh0DSY

research in situations such as social gatherings does not come easily to many researchers,

who may feel that their area of science is too complex for nonscientists to understand (or frankly

don’t feel a need to help them understand). Many community events and meetings now include

discussions of carbon footprints and alternative energy. Scientists need to take or create more

occasions to explain to the public how far we are from really understanding the basis of disease

and our consequent vulnerability.

Now is the time to take bold actions both personally and through advocacy groups to accelerate

public awareness in support of basic research. By failing to do so, we consign ourselves

and future generations to a world with little hope for dramatically improving human health and

well-being.

                                                                      – Jim Wells and Mary Woolley