لا شيء لم يتحدث فيه الرئيس ترمب، شهيته مفتوحة للكلام في كل شيء، وقبل أيام قريبة لم يتورع عن دخول عالم الطب فخرج محذراً النساء الحوامل من أشهر دواء في العالم، الذي له أسماء عديدة، بانادول، تايلنول، آدول، وغيرها، وهي تعني مركباً صيدلانياً يُستخدم كخافض للحرارة ومسكن للألم، وتسبّب تصريحه في ضجة كبيرة لأنه ربطه كسبب لمرض التوحد والمشاكل العصبية عند الأطفال، وذلك ما دفع المرجعيات الطبية المتخصصة إلى توضيح هذا اللبس والتعميم في حديثه عن موضوع طبي متخصص ومعقد.
موضوع الطب كورقة سياسية شاهدناه أيضاً مع جائحة كورونا، اتهامات أمريكا للصين بتعمّد نشر الفايروس، اتهامات اللقاح بأنه مؤامرة على صحة الإنسان، وتوجيه اللوم للجهة الصحية التي أجازته ورئيسها، ومن خلفهم الرئيس السابق بايدن. تقول «سيلين غاوندر» عضو المجلس الاستشاري لـ«كوفيد 19» في مقال لها في نيويورك تايمز ونشر في صحيفة الشرق الأوسط بتأريخ 28 سبتمر، بعنوان «تصعيد خطير في حروب العلوم»: «لطالما كانت الصحة العامة داخل الولايات المتحدة مثيرة للانقسام، خصوصاً أنها تقع عند تقاطع العلم والسلطة الحكومية والحرية الشخصية والمصالح الاقتصادية». ثم تضيف قائلةً: «فيما يخص الرئيس الأمريكي دونالد ترمب، يعني هذا تهميش المعلومات غير الملائمة سياسياً: من رفض بيانات الوفيات في بورتوريكو بعد «إعصار ماريا»، إلى الادعاء بأن البلاد كانت تُجري اختبارات مفرطة للكشف عن «كوفيد» أوائل عام 2020، إلى إقالة رئيس مكتب إحصاءات العمل هذا الشهر».
وليس الرئيس ترمب وحده الذي فعل ذلك، فهناك سياسيون كُثُر قبله حشروا العلم وخاصة مجال الصحة في أجنداتهم السياسية بإثارة عوامل الثقافة والقيم والمعتقدات الدينية، لكن الأمر تجلى بشكل أكثر صخباً في السجالات الساخنة بين ترمب وبايدن. يكفيكم يا أهل السياسة ما فيها، ودعوا العلم وشأنه لأصحابه.
تابع قناة عكاظ على الواتساب
Nothing is off-limits for President Trump; he has an appetite for discussing everything. Just a few days ago, he did not hesitate to enter the world of medicine, warning pregnant women about one of the most common medications in the world, which has many names: Panadol, Tylenol, Adol, and others. This refers to a pharmaceutical compound used as a fever reducer and pain reliever. His statement caused a significant uproar because he linked it as a cause of autism and neurological issues in children, prompting specialized medical authorities to clarify this confusion and the generalization in his remarks about a specialized and complex medical topic.
The topic of medicine as a political tool was also evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, with accusations from America towards China of deliberately spreading the virus, claims that the vaccine was a conspiracy against human health, and blaming the health authority that approved it and its head, along with former President Biden behind them. Celine Gounder, a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board, stated in an article for The New York Times published in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on September 28, titled "A Dangerous Escalation in the Wars of Science": "Public health in the United States has always been divisive, especially as it sits at the intersection of science, government authority, personal freedom, and economic interests." She further adds: "For President Donald Trump, this means marginalizing politically inconvenient information: from rejecting death toll data in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, to claiming that the country was conducting excessive COVID testing in early 2020, to the dismissal of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month."
And it is not only President Trump who has done this; many politicians before him have squeezed science, especially the field of health, into their political agendas by stirring up cultural factors, values, and religious beliefs. However, this became more pronounced in the heated exchanges between Trump and Biden. Enough for you, politicians, of what is involved; leave science to its rightful owners.
The topic of medicine as a political tool was also evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, with accusations from America towards China of deliberately spreading the virus, claims that the vaccine was a conspiracy against human health, and blaming the health authority that approved it and its head, along with former President Biden behind them. Celine Gounder, a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board, stated in an article for The New York Times published in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on September 28, titled "A Dangerous Escalation in the Wars of Science": "Public health in the United States has always been divisive, especially as it sits at the intersection of science, government authority, personal freedom, and economic interests." She further adds: "For President Donald Trump, this means marginalizing politically inconvenient information: from rejecting death toll data in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, to claiming that the country was conducting excessive COVID testing in early 2020, to the dismissal of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month."
And it is not only President Trump who has done this; many politicians before him have squeezed science, especially the field of health, into their political agendas by stirring up cultural factors, values, and religious beliefs. However, this became more pronounced in the heated exchanges between Trump and Biden. Enough for you, politicians, of what is involved; leave science to its rightful owners.


