ABSTRACT
In contrast to the more data-driven selections presented so far, this is an essay written from the perspective of a practicing physician in Blantyre, Malawi. Many of Whitty’s points resonate with those raised in other selections, such as the tendency for people to blame outsiders or foreigners for grave health problems (see selections 23, 32, and 34) or to deny their existence (see selection 35). Whitty distinguishes between stigmatizing a behavior pattern and stigmatizing individuals suffering from sickness or medical problems and shows how in some cases the former may be a justifiable and successful public health strategy. On the other hand, to demonize people as disease transmitters is not likely ever to be helpful. It causes greater suffering in the sick and their loved ones and blinds people to the fact that the disease is transmitted by ordinary people and not just the deviants described by moralists and some health authorities.
