B

eing able to witness a pandemic 

like COVID-19 in our lifetime 

has been both a dream and a 

nightmare for me. For many public health 

students, a real-life pandemic is everything 

our education has been building toward. 

In every class, we are reminded of our 

predecessors who created the polio vaccine 

and eradicated the source of cholera way 

back when. We are constantly empowered 

to work for communities that are the most 

vulnerable and under-served. We aim to 

uplift the voices of those that may be hidden 

by systematic oppression. Yet when news of 

the virus coming to the state of Michigan 

came, I found that many of us were quiet.

No matter if you’re in public health, 

medicine or any other field, the COVID-

19 pandemic scares every single one of us. 

We’re all human. As public health students, 

we realize the importance of social isolation; 

of flattening the curve; of making sure that 

our health systems and hospitals are not 

given more than they can take. But at the 

same time, the human in me is still stressed, 

confused and helpless. 

Every day, as I slog through hours of 

online classes, I look back at all the times I 

took my life for granted—seeing my friends 

every day, not having to worry whether 

someone in my family has been exposed, 

being able to go about my day as I normally 

would. Not finishing the semester out is one 

thing, but being removed from our lifestyles 

has left many of us in a state of shock. I’ve 

learned that this “disturbance” is the cause 

of my newfound constant exhaustion and 

lack of motivation. 

My heart aches as I see all the stories 

on Twitter or on the news. Every time I 

FaceTime a friend, I’m being told of more 

heart-wrenching narratives. It hurts to see 

photos of vulnerable populations, like the 

elderly and those who cannot afford to buy 

in bulk in grocery stores, looking so helpless 

when they see nothing on the shelves. It 

hurts to see videos of people whose parents, 

aunts, uncles and loved ones are dealing 

with the virus. This pandemic is bigger than 

anyone ever imagined it to be. 

Students are being hurried off of campus, 

even if they don’t have the means to do so, 

as fast as everything is occurring. A huge 

disparity still remains between those who 

are actually being tested and those who are 

not. Every day more celebrities announce 

they’ve been tested for the virus, while 

regular people are not. Many still have to 

go to work to pay their bills because they 

cannot afford to give that money up to stay 

home; unpaid leave is not an option. 

COVID-19 has made me realize my 

privilege and I encourage everyone to 

realize theirs too. You don’t have to be a 

public health major to see how important 

it is for us to take care of each other, to keep 

in touch or to reach out to those who may 

be struggling during these times. These are 

times for solidarity. 

This pandemic motivates me to see how 

impactful the public health field can be and 

how it facilitates change so fast. The biggest 

thing about public health is that, if we do our 

work well, you won’t see the effects of the 

issue later. Though COVID-19 has already 

destroyed the lives of many, I am hoping that 

we all can prevent it from getting worse for 

others dealing with it or who are susceptible. 

It’s the least we can do for humanity. It 

is both a dream and a nightmare, but I’m 

hoping that I can wake up soon and it’ll be 

over as fast as it started.

4 — Friday, April 10, 2020
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Alanna Berger
Zack Blumberg

Brittany Bowman
Emily Considine
Jess D’Agostino

Jenny Gurung
Cheryn Hong
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Zoe Phillips
Mary Rolfes

Michael Russo
Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson

Joel Weiner
Erin White 

ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Editor in Chief

EMILY CONSIDINE AND 

MILES STEPHENSON

Editorial Page Editors

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

SANIA FAROOQ | OP-ED

Facing COVID-19 as a public health student

Sania Farooq is junior in the School 

of Public Health and can be reached at 

sffarooq@umich.edu.

T

he 
nation’s 
43rd 

president, George W. 

Bush, is a polarizing 

figure. In foreign affairs, the 

most well-known part of his 

legacy is probably his decision 

to 
pursue 
military 
action 

in Iraq and that will, in all 

likelihood, remain the thing 

for which he is known best. 

However, it is important to 

consider that this is only part 

of his legacy in international 

affairs. 

Another part of it is the role 

America played to address the 

AIDS crisis in Africa. Former 

President Bush pushed for the 

establishment of the President’s 

Emergency 
Plan 
For 
AIDS 

Relief (PEPFAR). This is an 

initiative to address the global 

health crises surrounding HIV/

AIDS that has, to this date, 

spent more than $90 billion on 

this crisis since 2004. 

Bush rose to office as a 

different kind of conservative. 

He 
was 
a 
“compassionate 

conservative” — he wanted 

to use the government to 

improve the general welfare 

and PEPFAR was one way in 

which he did that. Bush’s 

interest in Africa came from a 

1990 visit to The Gambia with 

his wife, Laura Bush, and in 

the lead up to his decision to 

enter the race, then-advisor 

(and future Secretary of State) 

Condoleeza Rice pressed Bush 

to make addressing the AIDS 

epidemic in Africa a serious 

part of his foreign policy 

legacy. This 1998 conversation 

proved far more prescient than 

either of the participants could 

have imagined.

Bush 
announced 
the 

program in his 2003 State of 

the Union Address, though 

it was overshadowed by the 

fact that this speech also 

featured justifications for the 

invasion of Iraq. The project 

was one owned by Bush — he 

was willing to stick his neck 

out for additional money from 

Congress if he saw results. As 

it happened, the results he saw 

were incredibly encouraging. 

PEPFAR has saved the lives 

of millions and improved the 

lives of millions more and to 

his credit, it has done it in an 

effective, efficient manner — 

it prevented deaths from HIV 

for under $2,500 per death 

prevented. Though it is an 

AIDS program, some studies 

have suggested that it reduced 

the odds of death by 20 percent 

in general in countries where 

it existed. Further, it has 

directly reduced tuberculosis 

infections and deaths.

In today’s discussion around 

COVID-19, much attention is 

paid to how former President 

Barack Obama handled Ebola. 

I agree that Obama’s work was 

commendable there. However, 

in the global health arena, one 

place Obama left something to 

be desired was with regards to 

PEPFAR. Obama and his team 

created budgets that “slashed 

hundreds of millions of dollars 

from PEPFAR.” Unfortunately, 

President Donald Trump has 

gone further here and has 

released budget proposals with 

“$1.35 billion in cuts to the 

President’s 
Emergency 
Plan 

for AIDS Relief.” Both of these 

presidents have cut and increased 

funding to different programs, 

as has been their prerogative. 

However, this goes to show 

why Bush deserves credit for 

PEPFAR. It was his prerogative 

and should be recognized as 

such, especially in light of its 

exemplary results.

PEPFAR was a way for 

America to lead in the global 

health arena. The AIDS crisis 

ravaged America in the 1980s 

and the initial response by the 

government was a subject of 

criticism then and widespread 

denunciation now. PEPFAR 

was a chance to reverse this 

issue and Bush seized the 

issue to show why America 

deserved to lead the world in 

global and public health and 

how exactly it would go about 

doing so. Because of American 

leadership regarding AIDS, an 

AIDS-free generation is within 

sight and PEPFAR has played 

a large role in getting to this 

point.

However, there must be more. 

Thankfully, cuts to PEPFAR 

were 
rejected 
by 
Congress 

under Obama and Trump and 

in both cases, funding was set at 

levels beyond those requested 

by 
the 
president. 
This 
is 

something but isn’t enough. 

Bush may have been an unlikely 

catalyst for a public health 

revolution but he very clearly 

was one — the results do not 

lie. Today, however, that kind 

of compassionate conservatism 

and 
desire 
for 
American 

leadership doesn’t exist as it 

did under Bush and the nation, 

world and public health are 

all worse for it. PEPFAR is an 

example of America at its best. 

Like other programs, such as 

the Marshall Plan or the Berlin 

Airlift, it is proof that when 

American leadership decides 

to accomplish a goal, that goal 

will be accomplished. Bush 

wanted to make his mark with 

AIDS, and it is hard to argue 

that he didn’t.

How George W. Bush addressed a different public health crisis

ANIK JOSHI | COLUMN

Anik Joshi can be reached at 

anikj@umich.edu.

LEENA GHANNAM | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT LZGHANNA@UMICH.EDU

CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION

Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and 

op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds 
should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and 

University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

