Page 24 - Sphere No.27 (Sep 2010)

22 Sphere
We all enjoy the benefits of globalisation –
fresh fruit and vegetables from any part of the
world at any time of the year, the latest Paris fash-
ions on sale wherever you live, music and films
that find international fame, and an Internet that
lets us reach out to people all over the world. But
not everything about globalisation is good. As the
world has gone global, so have diseases. Around
30 million people fly abroad every year, mean-
ing diseases can inadvertently be taken from one
country to another at frightening speed.
The terrible impact of a global epidemic is diffi-
cult to imagine, though Hong Kongers got a small
taste of what it might be like in 2003, when Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) hit the city
and Hong Kong was gradually isolated from the
rest of the world. People stopped coming here and
Hong Kong’s population hid behind surgical masks
Fighting the good fight
The Li Ka Shing Foundation is helping medical experts in
different countries to unite to build a global force fighting
contagious disease
By Teri Fitsell
Commun i t y
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