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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Mark Luborsky
Aired April 26, 2003 - 12:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: The uncertainty over SARS is affecting the way we behave these days. Mark Luborsky studies human behavior. He is a medical anthropologist at Wayne State University and joins us now from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Mark, we've obviously been seeing some drastic changes in behavior, and I'm not talking about the people who are wearing the surgical masks and the goggles, but I'm talking about the people who won't shake hands, who won't take Communion during Easter Mass. Is this overreacting, or are people just being prudent?
MARK LUBORSKY, MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST: It sounds like a very appropriate response if it's kept carefully understood that this is a dangerous, serious disease. But certainly this isn't something new for us. As a species, for thousands of years, we've evolved in a really comfortable ecology between ourselves and many other organisms on the planet.
We've endured and found ways to find some benefits from confronting scourges, such as tuberculosis in the past, polio, recently HIV. There's a variety of public and individual responses that have led us to be much able to cope with new problems as they emerge.
So there's old news and good news here.
KOPPEL: So if we're using T.B., polio, and HIV/AIDS as our guideposts, how do you see SARS evolving? As the disease spreads, will the fear as well?
LUBORSKY: I think at the current time, this is a very familiar and appropriate response. People are mobilized to get as much information as they can from as many sources as possible.
But also at the moment, it really does seem like a disproportionate response. The number of deaths and disabilities that occur from many other causes still far outweigh any risks you have from acquiring SARS or dying from it. Even a weekend traffic fatality count probably still is higher.
KOPPEL: With the exception of HIV/AIDS, the other two diseases really struck before globalization blew up in our faces, really, both for the better and for the worse. How do you see globalization affecting the behavioral response to SARS?
LUBORSKY: Now, that's the kind of question I hope continues to gain more and more attention. We've discovered recently, through the collaboration of laboratories in many different countries, how a rapid and effective response from information exchange and technologies is possible to address these changes.
At the same time, it served as kind of a model for a different way to inhabit and share the globe, in it -- occurring at the same time as we have wars and conflicts going on.
I guess the surprising lesson from polio is that as a country, we're probably best equipped to deal with very short-term crises, very acute diseases. And right now, the real public health challenging that we face is how to deal with the long-term aftermath, the effects of people who recover and survive with these kind of conditions.
And that's the place where the lessons from polio and T.B. will provide increasingly valuable with time.
KOPPEL: Mark, in our remaining seconds, help us out, and help people to at least get a sense as to what it will take for them, finally, not be afraid of contracting SARS.
LUBORSKY: I think the first line of defense is, of course, to be in touch with your physician and provider and take the most basic precautions that we have, and avoid some travel areas. But also to help each other understand that there are many bigger challenges we face, and that as SARS becomes known, perhaps we'll even recognize that the late-night TV will begin to have jokes and comedy about it.
Right now, a good marker is that people don't even feel like they can feel it appropriate for humor. And once we see those, we'll know the page has been turned. We'll know enough, and also our own responses are moving in the familiar direction to cope with it.
KOPPEL: So we've got to keep our eye on Leno and Letterman. Mark Luborsky, I want to thank you for joining us, sir...
LUBORSKY: Thank you.
KOPPEL: ... from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a medical anthropologist at Wayne State University.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 26, 2003 - 12:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: The uncertainty over SARS is affecting the way we behave these days. Mark Luborsky studies human behavior. He is a medical anthropologist at Wayne State University and joins us now from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Mark, we've obviously been seeing some drastic changes in behavior, and I'm not talking about the people who are wearing the surgical masks and the goggles, but I'm talking about the people who won't shake hands, who won't take Communion during Easter Mass. Is this overreacting, or are people just being prudent?
MARK LUBORSKY, MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST: It sounds like a very appropriate response if it's kept carefully understood that this is a dangerous, serious disease. But certainly this isn't something new for us. As a species, for thousands of years, we've evolved in a really comfortable ecology between ourselves and many other organisms on the planet.
We've endured and found ways to find some benefits from confronting scourges, such as tuberculosis in the past, polio, recently HIV. There's a variety of public and individual responses that have led us to be much able to cope with new problems as they emerge.
So there's old news and good news here.
KOPPEL: So if we're using T.B., polio, and HIV/AIDS as our guideposts, how do you see SARS evolving? As the disease spreads, will the fear as well?
LUBORSKY: I think at the current time, this is a very familiar and appropriate response. People are mobilized to get as much information as they can from as many sources as possible.
But also at the moment, it really does seem like a disproportionate response. The number of deaths and disabilities that occur from many other causes still far outweigh any risks you have from acquiring SARS or dying from it. Even a weekend traffic fatality count probably still is higher.
KOPPEL: With the exception of HIV/AIDS, the other two diseases really struck before globalization blew up in our faces, really, both for the better and for the worse. How do you see globalization affecting the behavioral response to SARS?
LUBORSKY: Now, that's the kind of question I hope continues to gain more and more attention. We've discovered recently, through the collaboration of laboratories in many different countries, how a rapid and effective response from information exchange and technologies is possible to address these changes.
At the same time, it served as kind of a model for a different way to inhabit and share the globe, in it -- occurring at the same time as we have wars and conflicts going on.
I guess the surprising lesson from polio is that as a country, we're probably best equipped to deal with very short-term crises, very acute diseases. And right now, the real public health challenging that we face is how to deal with the long-term aftermath, the effects of people who recover and survive with these kind of conditions.
And that's the place where the lessons from polio and T.B. will provide increasingly valuable with time.
KOPPEL: Mark, in our remaining seconds, help us out, and help people to at least get a sense as to what it will take for them, finally, not be afraid of contracting SARS.
LUBORSKY: I think the first line of defense is, of course, to be in touch with your physician and provider and take the most basic precautions that we have, and avoid some travel areas. But also to help each other understand that there are many bigger challenges we face, and that as SARS becomes known, perhaps we'll even recognize that the late-night TV will begin to have jokes and comedy about it.
Right now, a good marker is that people don't even feel like they can feel it appropriate for humor. And once we see those, we'll know the page has been turned. We'll know enough, and also our own responses are moving in the familiar direction to cope with it.
KOPPEL: So we've got to keep our eye on Leno and Letterman. Mark Luborsky, I want to thank you for joining us, sir...
LUBORSKY: Thank you.
KOPPEL: ... from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a medical anthropologist at Wayne State University.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
