TO THE EDITOR:
As the lead instructor for the course on which Jaslina Paintal’s column, “When ‘experts’ are ignorant,” is based, I am writing to address some of the statements.
On Feb. 8, Dr. Herbert Peterson, one of the most respected experts in his field, provided a lecture on global family planning to a class of undergraduate and graduate students. He has given this lecture as part of my course for the past several years and always provides an opportunity for questions and dialogue. With regard to Ms. Paintal’s claims concerning his answers to specific questions, I provide the following additional information:
1) His statement about HIV/AIDs made the point that highly effective antiviral medications were available in 1996 that were saving the lives of those with HIV infection in developed countries but that people in Africa had no access to these life-saving medications. Thus, everyone in Africa with HIV at that point was, in fact, dying from the disease. Dr. Peterson was underscoring the moral imperative to assure that there was availability and access to these interventions in Africa, where the disease burden was greatest. When asked about which parts of Africa were most affected, Dr. Peterson indicated that it was sub-Saharan Africa, though every country on the continent had been touched by the epidemic.
2) During his lecture, Dr. Peterson mentioned unsafe abortion as a cause of maternal mortality. In response to a question regarding the specific definition of “unsafe abortion,” Dr. Peterson, understanding the significance of the issue, responded that the World Health Organization had a specific definition that he was not readily able to recall. At that point I indicated that the class topic scheduled for the following week would focus on the issue of unsafe abortions and that a formal definition would be provided.
3) One student asked a very specific question regarding whether the United Nations had altered its approach toward LGBTQ issues in its preparation of the new Sustainable Development Goals or whether, as the student suggested, the unsatisfactory approach taken by the United Nations with other global initiatives was continuing. Dr. Peterson indicated that he could not address that issue authoritatively. As an expert in maternal and child health, Dr. Peterson responded appropriately given that the issue was one of U.N. global policy and not public health.
Family planning and sexual health are central to public health, but the definitions of problems and strategies to improve reproductive health tend to vary according to political, social and cultural issues. Dr. Peterson, who is a Kenan Distinguished Professor, a professor of maternal and child health and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology here at UNC, addressed the class with transparency, sensitivity and awareness of varied perspectives, norms and values while providing a presentation that was challenging to students.
Prof. Dorothy Cilenti
Department of Maternal and Child Health
