$4.5 Million of medicine sent to tsunami victims

A

ANMMark

New member
I don't want to sound heartless, because these people truly need help.

However, I find an irony in the fact that our own healthcare is a nightmare, to the point where a flu shot wasn't available for everyone that needed it, our healthcare bills skyrocket.

How then, can they explain sending $4.5 million worth of medicine to another country?

Again, I know these people need it, I don't want to deny them of it, and that's not the reason I'm bringing it up.

I'm bringing it up, because for years our own healthcare suffers, and a disaster like this occurs, and all of sudden, we have $4.5 million worth of medicine to send to another country.

I'd sure like to hear what you think.
 
I feel the same way. It is completely mind boggling. I also don't understand how all of these celebrities and organizations are donating millions of dollars to the relief effort (which is needed and certainly a very generous and hearted gesture), but they haven't donated anything to the victims of the Florida Hurricanes, or to help the homeless find a place to live, or to feed the millions of hungry people throughout the world. Their donations are certainly generous and deserve merit, but I think that if they can spare the change for this, they might as well try to help others as well.
 
Do you know exactly what that medicine was? Maybe it is something that your country has a lot of. I know a lot of Americans even traveled to Canada to get their flu shots.
 
They were mulitple vaccination medications (the exact details weren't released yet, according to the news). What's even more mind boggling, is that they based the shipment on an "if" scenerio.....

"Five million people have been severely affected by the tsunamis. We now estimate that as many as 150,000 people are at extreme risk, if a major disease outbreak in the affected areas occurs,"

I also understand where you're coming from Art. My concern is that if we had this $4.5 million for medicinal purposes, why wasn't it used here to help relieve medical burdons for people who can't afford healthcare, medicine, etc.. Why wasn't it used to assist Florida hurrican victims that were injured, etc (as brought up).

How can we help others when we can't help ourselves.

Again, I believe that these people deserve this medicine, but I also think our own country deserves our own tax dollars to work for our own citicens in the same way, when we need it.
 
I hear you, Mark. I don't think government of any country uses up all the medicine till lheir last availability. They would always have a back up quantity for sudden emergencies. I don't live in the US, so it would be extremely hard to comment on such a situation.
 
When we send $4.5 million worth of medicine to foreign countries, then there must be a big reason. Not to make these disasters any less important, but the Florida hurricanes caused less of a risk of disease than the tsunami that struck southern Asia. I don't know why this $4.5 million can't be used for healthcare in our own country, but I am not in the white house. How would it look if the United States just wrote a check to southern Asia, rather than donating what they need? Obviously, the United States would look just like a super-power with money to spend. When the United States' sends medicine over it shows that we care about people not spreading disease. I recently saw on the news that 150,000 people could die from disease--almost the same amount that was killed by the tsunami.
 
The key words you have used is "could die."

These vaccinations were sent for a "just in case" scenerio...they may never use or need it.
 
It is very likely these vaccinations will be used. When a disaster strikes a place where there are people that are densly populated, disease can spread rapidly.
 
Pfizer will donate $10 million to local and international relief organizations operating in the region.
Pfizer will contribute approximately $25 million worth of the company’s healthcare products which includes the anti-infective products Zithromax, Zyvox and Diflucan.

This is a tragedy. You can look at the numbers all you want. The bottomline is that our healthcare problems go beyond simply using the money to "Fix It". It's a complicated system with many variables"

You also have to take into consideration that the Gov, does have different budgets.
So this money could have been used from a specific budget, where it could not be used to help itself.

"Citigroup Contributes USD$3 Million to South Asia Tsunami Tragedy Relief Effort"

Time for the rich to give to the poor.
 
Now see, I agree with what you have just said, but the problem is still there.

It comes right down to the fact that when our country needs it, it's not available, but when another country needs it....it appears out of thin air.

The healthcare industry is only complicated because they want it to be....it's easier to take advantage of people that way, if they feel they won't understand it anyway. As you can see, it wasn't very complicated for Indonesia to get $4.5 million worth of medicine within days. Yet folks here, who can't afford to pay for their medication, don't qualify for medicare, and have no health benefits at their place of employment, are left to suffer or die. Even welfare won't cover all of their medication in many cases.

As Xcel_Hosting stated, we have celebrities donating money for this cause as well, which is fine of course. However, where were these celebrities when the people in Florida lost their homes, their businesses, family members, and were literally begging for help, after getting hit by 3 hurricanes in a row? These people were left with the promise of the money that the government said "Sorry but this is all we can give you."

Again, I'm not saying that the unfortunate people in Indonesia don't deserve assistance..they need it desperately right now, and should receive it. Our company supports any effort in getting these people aid. I just cannot imagine how our own people can be left out to dry, while we have the money to send to other countries for assistance.

This of course isn't the only, or first case of this happening. It has happened on many other occassions, and in many other situations, with different topics other than natural disaster aid, but with everything that has happened in the past year, tied so closely together, it's a lot easier to notice this time.
 
My country sent among the very smallest aids. I can tell you one thing: I'm not proud of that.

I think money are always spent wrongly by goverments. They never have them because they spend them foolishly. I see plenty of waste even here, in a poor country.

In any case, I find it interesting that the US is always asked to give more when everyone knows that they have a very serious debt problem.
 
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I had a child who was born with a heart problem. He needed monthy shot to keep from getting RSV. He also needed to see a doctor every week. The total a month? $6500. Not including medication and later the operation that fixed him. If I hadn't have had insurance he could have died. My point is some of the problems lie in the cost of the services.
 
My point is some of the problems lie in the cost of the services.
Click to expand...

The problem with the cost is directly related to the insurance that the doctors and hospitals must keep. It has become so expensive that many doctors have had to give up their practices.

I had a child who was born with a heart problem. He needed monthy shot to keep from getting RSV.
Click to expand...

On this note...I'm very sorry to here that, and hope he is doing much better now. One of my twins had RSV right after he was born, and it kept him in the hospital for 28 days. My wife and I were permitted to touch him or anything like that, for fear that it may spread the virus.
 
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