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هل يجب أن يذهب العالم لريو ؟

Jun 6, 2016 Peter Singer

برينستون-عندما تم منح ريو دي جانيرو حق تنظيم دورة الألعاب الأولمبية لسنة 2016 لم يكن فيروس زيكا قد وصل للبرازيل والآن وبعد إستثمار مليارات الدولارات في الإعداد للإلعاب فإن ولاية ريو دي جانيرو فيها ثاني أعلى عدد من الإصابات المشتبهة بعدوى فيروس زيكا فهل يتوجب علينا تأجيل دورة الألعاب الأولمبية الصيفية لسنة 2016 أو نقلها لمكان آخر؟

إن هذا قرار صعب والحقائق لم تتضح بعد ولهذا السبب وقعت أنا و 223 عالم ومختص بالإخلاقيات البيولوجية وخبير بالصحة العامة على رسالة مفتوحة لمارجريت تشان مدير عام منظمة الصحة العالمية حيث طلبنا منها تشكيل مجموعة مستقلة من أجل تقديم النصح لكل من منظمة الصحة العالمية واللجنة الأولمبية الدولية بطريقة شفافةتوفرالإدلة اللازمة من أجل تحقيق توازن بين الصحة العامة وتعطيل حدث رياضي دولي كبير.

إن فيروس زيكا ليس جديدا ولكن السلالة التي دخلت البرازيل سنة 2013 أكثر خطورة من أي بديل مختلف ولقد أكدت دراسة نشرت في الشهر الماضي في مجلة نيو إنجلاند جورنال اوف ميديسن الطبية بإنه عندما يصيب الفيروس إمرأة حامل فإنه قد يعيق تطور الدماغ في الجنين وهي حالة نادرة تعرف بإسم صغر الرأس وفي الحالات الشديدة فإنه من المستحيل على الطفل أن يعيش حياة مستقلة.

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Peter Singer

Writing for PS since 2001
225 Commentaries

Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, is Founder of the nonprofit organization The Life You Can Save. His books include Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason), Rethinking Life and Death, The Point of View of the Universe, co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, The Most Good You Can Do, Famine, Affluence, and Morality, One World Now, Ethics in the Real World, Why Vegan?, and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction, also with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek. In April 2021, W.W. Norton published his new edition of Apuleius’s The Golden Ass. In 2013, he was named the world's third "most influential contemporary thinker" by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 7 Comments on this article

Laura Viana Aug 23, 2016

Dear Mr. Singer,
Do you still support your alarmist opinion about the Olympic Games in Rio?
Laura
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William Pu Jun 12, 2016

The Olympic Games were supposed to be an event for amateur sportsmanship. No longer amateur, no longer sportsmanship. Stop the charade, Zika or otherwise.
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Steve Hurst Jun 11, 2016

@Craig

'...it is clear that there is not enough evidence to recommend against generic travel to the Rio Olymics - to do so would cause harm and the benefit is extremely uncertain. It would be unethical.'

So you think it is ethical to passively encourage people to expose themselves to Zika so they can partake of sport? To encourage the transmittion outward by new carriers? How about the super bacteria identified in the lagoons and bay to be used for watersports, immersion in that broth is passively recommended?

What is clear is the Olymipic Committee is not well advised to grant venues to countries that do not have basic provisions already in place

The super bacteria identified at the Rio venues can cause hard-to-treat urinary, gastrointestinal, pulmonary and bloodstream infections, along with meningitis. The US CDC says studies show that these bacteria contribute to death in up to half of patients infected.

The Zika virus is considered associated with Aedes aegypti but there is no reason why it should not be potentially carried by Aedes albopictus, so a new huge population can be affected and thousands affected with neurological problems, and this is okay because there may be economic impact in some existing zika zones? I dont see much in the way of ethics in that
- Steve Hurst Jun 11, 2016
  
  @Craig
  from the US CDC board -
  
  'Some countries in Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Asia have reported Zika in the past and may continue to occasionally report new cases. The risk to travelers in these endemic countries is likely much lower than it is in countries with Zika epidemics'
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Craig Dalton Jun 6, 2016

Peter Singer's article finishes his article on Zika virus and the decision by WHO not to recommend the cancellation or postponement of the Rio Olympics with: "Until qualified experts have laid out all the facts, the world should stay away." I have worked on disease outbreaks on three continents since my training as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at CDC in 1992 and have repeatedly heard such assessments in the midst of outbreaks - they are usually based on a narrow assessment of the issues as exemplified by Peter Singer's article. Let me address several important considerations. For the WHO to advise against travel to Rio for the Olympic Games would have significant implications. It would impact travel to every country impacted by Zika virus with potentially significant economic consequences - often borne disproportionally by the poor. Saying don't travel to Rio is saying don't travel to a large part of the world - and for how long? Peter Singer is optimistic that the travel ban on Brazil would be temporary because a vaccine will be found, however in 2002 it was announced that a vaccine for the closely related West Nile Virus was in preparation with licensure anticipated within three years. But there are currently no vaccines licensed for preventing West Nile Virus disease in humans. Despite millions of dollars of development attempts, there is no human vaccine available for SARS virus recognised in 2003 or for the MERS virus first reported in 2012.

There is a guiding ethical maxim of medical practice: "first do no harm". While Peter Singer claims the "facts are not clear", it is clear that there is not enough evidence to recommend against generic travel to the Rio Olymics - to do so would cause harm and the benefit is extremely uncertain. It would be unethical.
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Laura Viana Jun 6, 2016

Prezado Senhor,

Meu comentário é escrito em português para que o senhor, se o quiser ler, se dê ao trabalho de traduzi-lo utilizando algum destes “maravilhosos” tradutores disponíveis on-line, pois creio que o senhor não conhece este idioma lindo, dominado por Camões, Fernando Pessoa, Carlos Drummond, Clarice Lispector, Guimarães Rosas, Rubem Fonseca, Lygia Fagundes Telles, Lya Luft, José Saramago e muitos outros Ou seja, a leitura será ao pé da letra e poderá, inclusive, fazê-lo rir de uma tragédia anunciada.

Em primeiro lugar, o senhor sabia que o vírus da Zika não é autóctone? Sabe de onde veio? Tenho certeza que sim, dadas as suas credenciais. Pois é, nós brasileiros temos mania de importar não só o que é bom, mas também o que é ruim. Salvo engano da minha parte, o vírus da Zika foi trazido quando de um torneio de remo realizado na cidade do Rio de Janeiro ou durante a Copa do Mundo. Não sei se os especialistas já chegaram a alguma conclusão a chegada do vírus no Brasil.

Em segundo lugar, sou contra a realização das Olimpíadas no Rio de Janeiro. Não tenho nada contra esportes. Aliás, pratico esportes quase que diariamente. Entretanto, sou radicalmente contra o gasto de dinheiro público em grandes eventos inúteis. Em particular em meu Pais que, infelizmente, não consegue cumprir quaisquer cronogramas sejam eles físicos ou financeiros. Esses são sempre alargados em muitos anos e milhões.

Pouquíssimas obras planejadas para a Copa do Mundo de 2014 ficaram prontas a contento dois anos após sua realização. O mesmo acontecerá com as Olimpíadas.

Por fim, apesar do aumento no número recente de casos de dengue no primeiro trimestre de 2016, eu pergunto se não seria o caso de evacuarmos o Brasil inteiro, afinal também somos seres humanos, também somos raça humana. Ou seríamos seres e raça humana de segunda categoria e podemos ser expostos sem dó nem piedade ao vírus da Zika, com ou sem perspectiva de aumento do número de casos previstos para agosto?

Aplicando este mesmo raciocínio, será que deveríamos suspender quaisquer viagens ao estrangeiro para não contaminarmos os demais povos mas, também, para evitarmos ser alvo de algum terrorista armado ou não!

Laura Cristina Simões Viana
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Steve Hurst Jun 6, 2016

What about the open sewer they call the sea
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هل يجب أن يذهب العالم لريو ؟

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