Editorial |
Musings on Chekhov
Gabriel M. Leung
Selena Gray
It's curious that we can't possibly tell what exactly will be considered great and important, and what will seem paltry and ridiculous. Did not the discoveries of Copernicus or Columbus, let us say, seem useless and ridiculous at first, while the nonsensical writings of some wiseacre seemed true?Anton Chekhov
Chekhov, through Lieutenant-Colonel Alexandr Ignatevich Vershinin in The Three Sisters, has summed up a journal editor's conundrum. Every time we put together a new issue, we hope that in time the chosen articles ‘will be considered great and important’. An added challenge we face at JPH is that we look for papers that are directly relevant to the practice of public health. As our discipline becomes increasingly recognized as a global enterprise, we must also lead from the front in procuring and publishing the best evidence and thinking from around the world. These triple imperatives would be overwhelming for the two of us working alone. Fortunately, we are supported in this task by the Journal's new editorial board, composed of 13 thought leaders from academia, national and supranational agencies, non-profits and foundations who collectively represent the complete spectrum of public health activities. They will be an important source of inspiration and wisdom.
Another novel initiative is the inauguration of ‘Chekhov's Corner’, which will become a regular feature in the Journal. It focuses on the intersection of the arts and humanities with public health practice. Danielle Ofri christens the series by showing us how to bridge the seeming disconnect between the human body and the body politic, between rational calculus and creative impressions, and between the science of probabilities and the art of possibilities.1 In fact Ofri personifies this consilience in that she is an active clinician as well as edits the Bellevue Literary Review.
In the sociological account Ostrov Sakhalin Chekhov the physician recounted the living hell of Sakhalin, a Russian penal colony north of Japan, where the inhumane conditions provoked artistic expression by Chekhov the writer in The Murder. Wood et al.2, in this issue, discuss many of the same underlying dynamics associated with incarceration, in trying to understand better the modern scourge of injecting drug use among inmates. Of course this problem is not restricted to the prison population, to which the other two articles on parenteral drug abuse attest.3,4
While Chekhov became admired for feeding famine victims on his country estate of Melikhovo, the papers by Brunt et al.5 and Webster et al.6 show that poor Welsh children and south Asian boys today confront another form of malnutrition, in combination with post-modern lifestyle habits.7 Childhood obesity provides the critical life course link to poor health outcomes in adulthood, which not only include the familiar metabolic syndrome and diabetes constellation but also cholangial disease, according to Liu and co-workers.8 Unless there is a fundamental change in the mindset of the general public, the ‘battle of the bulge’ cannot be won. To do so would require the judicious deployment of social marketing through the media. Judging by Mayer's9 bibliometric deduction however, it will be a long march for the public health infantry.
One can only pray that public health's effort in mitigating the unfinished epidemic of communicable diseases, the emerging epidemic of chronic conditions, the unnecessary epidemic of environmental insults and the unethical epidemic of inequalities will not rehearse the futility so poignantly painted in our hero's final and most famous play The Cherry Orchard.
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- Ofri D. Public health and the muse. Pubmed (2008) 30:205–8.
- Werb D, Kerr T, Small W, et al. HIV risks associated with incarceration among injection drug users: implications for prison-based public health strategies. Pubmed (2008) 30:126–32.
- Uusküla A, Kals M, Rajaleid K, et al. High prevalence and high-estimated incidence of HIV infection among new injecting drug users in Estonia: need for large scale prevention programs. Pubmed (2008) 30:119–25.
- Matheson C, Anthony GB, Bond C, et al. Assessing and prioritizing the preferences of injecting drug users in needle and syringe exchange service Development. Pubmed (2008) 30:133–8.
- Brunt H, Lester N, Davies G, et al. Childhood overweight and obesity: is the gap closing the wrong way? Pubmed (2008) 30:145–52.
- Balakrishnan R, Webster P, Sinclair D. Trends in overweight and obesity among 5–7-year-old White and South Asian children born between 1991 and 1999. Pubmed (2008) 30:139–44.
- Mark AE, Janssen I. Relationship between screen time and metabolic syndrome in adolescents. Pubmed (2008) 30:153–60.
- Liu B, Balkwill A, Spencer E, et al. Relationship between body mass index and length of hospital stay for gallbladder disease. Pubmed (2008) 30:161–6.
- Bomlitz LJ, Brezis M. Misrepresentation of health risks by mass media. Pubmed (2008) 30:202–4.
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