Một câu chuyện buồn về cái chết của một nhà khoa học lừng danh Richard Heck (1), Giải Nobel Hoá học 2010.
Nobel Laureate’s Death Spotlights Quality-Of-Death Issues The death of Nobel Laureate Richard Heck in the Philippines highlights the shortcomings of public healthcare in many Asian nations. Science and Development Network | October 30, 2015 | Editorials AsianScientist (Oct. 30, 2015) - By Crispin Maslog - The death of Nobel laureate in Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/10/features/richard-heck-nobel-quality-death-asia/
Singapore's Scientific Pioneers book ASWP 2015 Print Intelligence Conferences News by Country Nobel Laureate’s Death Spotlights Quality-Of-Death Issues The death of Nobel Laureate Richard Heck in the Philippines highlights the shortcomings of public healthcare in many Asian nations. Science and Development Network | October 30, 2015 | Editorials AsianScientist (Oct. 30, 2015) - By Crispin Maslog - The death of Nobel laureate in chemistry Richard Heck in Manila early this October raises questions about the way society care about the end-of-life of its senior citizens. Heck, along with Japanese scientists Ei-ichi Negishi of Purdue University in the United States and Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University in Japan, won the Nobel Prize in 2010 for successfully cross-coupling carbon molecules using palladium as a catalyst. Their groundbreaking discovery, dubbed the Heck Reaction, led to breakthroughs in drug development, playing a vital role in creating new types of drugs for cancer, asthma, HIV and other diseases. Ironically, Heck died without getting the needed medical attention because he lacked the money to pay for the hospital expenses his family complained. He worked for 18 years at the University of Delaware where he became professor emeritus but the American chose to retire with his Filipino wife in Manila. He relied on his monthly pension of US$2,500, an amount that would not have been enough if he lived his retirement years in the US. He suffered for years from diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and slight dementia. He had unpaid medical bills when he was brought to a hospital where he died at the age of 84, after exhausting his life savings on medical care. Quality of life and death Heck’s demise in the Philippines raises the social security issue, a problem that even rich countries like the US are struggling with. As the world’s population gets older, the social security system has more senior citizens to support and fewer younger people to contribute to the system. Unless the system is changed, it will eventually break down. The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance says only in the last few years have leaders paid attention to the issue of dying with dignity and started investing in high-quality and affordable palliative care for the dying population. This is because, although inevitable, death is not something people discuss in daily conversation. It is taboo in many cultures. And yet, although most people do not want to talk about it, everyone wants a “good death” or rather, “a good life to the very end.” So what does a “good death” mean? In 2010, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) was commissioned by the Lien Foundation of Singapore to come up with an answer. The goal was to draw up a Quality of Death Index to evaluate countries on the quality of care they give to people who are dying. The index was revised and expanded in 2015. The new and expanded 2015 index evaluates 80 countries using 20 quantitative and qualitative indicators across five categories: the palliative and healthcare environment, human resources, the affordability of care, the quality of care and the level of community engagement. The main criterion for the Quality of Death Index is palliative care, defined by the WHO as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through…relief of suffering…and treatment of pain and physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems.” The EIU used official data and interviewed palliative care experts to construct the index. It noted that the proportion of older people in the population is growing and non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer are on the rise. The need for palliative care is therefore expected to increase. Quality of death rankings According to the EIU 2010, as well as the 2015 index, the United Kingdom has the best quality of death because of its comprehensive national policies, extensive integration of palliative care into its National Health Service, and a strong hospice movement. Income levels are a strong indicator of the availability and quality of palliative care, with rich countries topping the Index. Australia and New Zealand come second and third on the list, and four other comparatively developed Asian countries rank in the top 20: Taiwan at 6, followed by Singapore at 12, Japan at 14, and South Korea at 18. Otherwise, developed European countries dominate the top 20 together with the US and Canada at ranks 9 and 11, respectively. Ability to provide palliative care may be related to the wealth of the country. But there are some exceptions to the rule, demonstrating the power of innovation and initiative. An example is Panama, which is building palliative care into its primary care services. Other examples are Mongolia, which has beefed up its hospice facilities and educational programs, and Uganda, which has increased availability of opioids. The other Asian countries cluster around the middle to lower half rankings of the 80 countries included in the Quality of Death Index: Malaysia (38), Thailand (44), Indonesia (53), Vietnam (58), Sri Lanka (65), India (67), China (71), Myanmar (76), Philippines (78), Bangladesh (79) and Iraq (80). Asian social safety net? Asked to comment on the Philippines’ very low rankings, Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) vice-president Francisco Soria tells SciDev.Net that the “government social health insurance system takes care of the curative needs of the population and not yet the palliative care for the old and dying, which is just beginning to be discussed.” “In the Philippines, care for the dying is undertaken by close family members, which is probably a better arrangement emotionally and psychologically for the patient. It is not in Philippine culture to put patients away in an institution for palliative care,” Soria adds. In many other Asia-Pacific countries, social safety nets provided by the strong family systems should be taken into account when determining the criteria for the Quality of Death Index. If these initiatives provided by the social safety net were taken into account, I think the ranking of the Philippines and other Asian countries would go up. For example, my wife has hired a caregiver to give personal and hygiene care to her brother who is bedridden due to old age. He is living the rest of his days in comfort in his home, with his family around him, without depending on the government’s PhilHealth insurance system. Years ago, we had a caregiver who took care of my mother in the home of my sister, and my mother died comfortably at 88. After that my wife and I cared for her father in our home, with the assistance of a caregiver. He died at 86. I am sure there are plenty of such examples in Asian societies. So when we talk of Quality of Death Index, we do not think only of government programmes to care for the aged and dying but also the social safety nets that Asia-Pacific societies provide. ——— Source: SciDev.Net. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff. Tags: Aging, Aging Population, Death, Nobel Prize, Palliative Care, Philippines Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/10/features/richard-heck-nobel-quality-death-asia/
Không ngờ ông đã từng giảng dạy ở University of Delaware, tiểu bang tôi dã sống 30 năm. Thực là đau lòng!
Xin mời các bạn đọc.
HongNhung
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jasmine Bui
Sent: Monday, November 2, 2015 12:00 AM
Subject: Fwd: Một câu chuyện buồn
From: Jasmine Bui
Sent: Monday, November 2, 2015 12:00 AM
Subject: Fwd: Một câu chuyện buồn
Một câu chuyện buồn
Hỗm rày, tôi phân vân và suy nghĩ về cái chết của một nhà khoa học lừng danh Richard Heck (1), Giải Nobel Hoá học 2010. Giáo sư Heck qua đời ở Phi Luật Tân vào cuối tháng 10 trong cô quạnh và nghèo khó. Các bạn có thể tưởng tượng một khôi nguyên Nobel mà không có đủ tiền để điều trị bệnh, nhưng đó là một thực tế.
Hỗm rày, tôi phân vân và suy nghĩ về cái chết của một nhà khoa học lừng danh Richard Heck (1), Giải Nobel Hoá học 2010. Giáo sư Heck qua đời ở Phi Luật Tân vào cuối tháng 10 trong cô quạnh và nghèo khó. Các bạn có thể tưởng tượng một khôi nguyên Nobel mà không có đủ tiền để điều trị bệnh, nhưng đó là một thực tế.
Richard Heck và Ei-ichi Negishi thuộc ĐH Purdue từng được trao giải Nobel hoá học năm 2010. Khám phá của ông được dùng cho việc phát triển thuốc điều trị HIV, ung thư, và một số bệnh khác. Ấy thế mà trong những ngày cuối đời, ông Heck chết vì không đủ tiền trả cho bệnh viện!
Ông từng làm việc cho ĐH Delaware 18 năm trời và sau này trở thành cựu giáo sư (Professor Emeritus). Sau khi nghỉ hưu, ông quyết định cùng vợ về sống ở Manila (vợ ông là người Phi Luật Tân). Lí do ông chọn sống ở Phi Luật Tân là vì sau khi nghỉ hưu, ông nhận tiền trợ cấp chỉ 2500 USD mỗi tháng, không đủ để sống ở Mĩ. Suốt đời, ông là một nhà khoa học bình dị, khiêm tốn, và hiền từ. Dù rất nổi tiếng, nhưng ông luôn tìm cách tránh công chúng và truyền thông. Ngay cả láng giềng ông ở Manila cũng không biết ông là một khôi nguyên Nobel!
Theo báo chí, ông bị bệnh tiểu đường, nghẽn phổi mãn tính, và một chút lẫn trí (dementia). Ông sống một mình, vì vợ ông qua đời năm 2012 và hai người không có con. Khi ông được chuyển vào một bệnh viện tư ở Manila trong tình trạng khẩn cấp, nhưng bệnh viện không nhập viện vì người ta phát hiện ông chưa trả nợ cho bệnh viện trong những lần điều trị trước đây. Ông được y tá cấp tốc chuyển sang bệnh viện công, nhưng tình trạng sức khoẻ quá xấu và ông qua đời ở tuổi 84, sau khi dành cả đời phục vụ cho khoa học và y học.
Cái chết của Giáo sư Heck làm cho giới khoa học Phi Luật Tân nổi giận. Họ kí một kháng nghị lên án hành động của bệnh viện tư, và chỉ trích gay gắt hệ thống y tế bất nhân. Phi Luật Tân, giới khoa học chỉ ra rằng, là một xã hội công giáo, và công giáo có truyền thống cưu mang người nghèo mà để cho một nhà khoa học lớn chết vì nghèo. Có cái gì đó không ổn trong xã hội này.
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(1) http://www.asianscientist.com/…/richard-heck-nobel-quality…/
Ông từng làm việc cho ĐH Delaware 18 năm trời và sau này trở thành cựu giáo sư (Professor Emeritus). Sau khi nghỉ hưu, ông quyết định cùng vợ về sống ở Manila (vợ ông là người Phi Luật Tân). Lí do ông chọn sống ở Phi Luật Tân là vì sau khi nghỉ hưu, ông nhận tiền trợ cấp chỉ 2500 USD mỗi tháng, không đủ để sống ở Mĩ. Suốt đời, ông là một nhà khoa học bình dị, khiêm tốn, và hiền từ. Dù rất nổi tiếng, nhưng ông luôn tìm cách tránh công chúng và truyền thông. Ngay cả láng giềng ông ở Manila cũng không biết ông là một khôi nguyên Nobel!
Theo báo chí, ông bị bệnh tiểu đường, nghẽn phổi mãn tính, và một chút lẫn trí (dementia). Ông sống một mình, vì vợ ông qua đời năm 2012 và hai người không có con. Khi ông được chuyển vào một bệnh viện tư ở Manila trong tình trạng khẩn cấp, nhưng bệnh viện không nhập viện vì người ta phát hiện ông chưa trả nợ cho bệnh viện trong những lần điều trị trước đây. Ông được y tá cấp tốc chuyển sang bệnh viện công, nhưng tình trạng sức khoẻ quá xấu và ông qua đời ở tuổi 84, sau khi dành cả đời phục vụ cho khoa học và y học.
Cái chết của Giáo sư Heck làm cho giới khoa học Phi Luật Tân nổi giận. Họ kí một kháng nghị lên án hành động của bệnh viện tư, và chỉ trích gay gắt hệ thống y tế bất nhân. Phi Luật Tân, giới khoa học chỉ ra rằng, là một xã hội công giáo, và công giáo có truyền thống cưu mang người nghèo mà để cho một nhà khoa học lớn chết vì nghèo. Có cái gì đó không ổn trong xã hội này.
====
(1) http://www.asianscientist.com/…/richard-heck-nobel-quality…/
Nobel Laureate’s Death Spotlights Quality-Of-Death Issues The death of Nobel Laureate Richard Heck in the Philippines highlights the shortcomings of public healthcare in many Asian nations. Science and Development Network | October 30, 2015 | Editorials AsianScientist (Oct. 30, 2015) - By Crispin Maslog - The death of Nobel laureate in Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/10/features/richard-heck-nobel-quality-death-asia/
Singapore's Scientific Pioneers book ASWP 2015 Print Intelligence Conferences News by Country Nobel Laureate’s Death Spotlights Quality-Of-Death Issues The death of Nobel Laureate Richard Heck in the Philippines highlights the shortcomings of public healthcare in many Asian nations. Science and Development Network | October 30, 2015 | Editorials AsianScientist (Oct. 30, 2015) - By Crispin Maslog - The death of Nobel laureate in chemistry Richard Heck in Manila early this October raises questions about the way society care about the end-of-life of its senior citizens. Heck, along with Japanese scientists Ei-ichi Negishi of Purdue University in the United States and Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University in Japan, won the Nobel Prize in 2010 for successfully cross-coupling carbon molecules using palladium as a catalyst. Their groundbreaking discovery, dubbed the Heck Reaction, led to breakthroughs in drug development, playing a vital role in creating new types of drugs for cancer, asthma, HIV and other diseases. Ironically, Heck died without getting the needed medical attention because he lacked the money to pay for the hospital expenses his family complained. He worked for 18 years at the University of Delaware where he became professor emeritus but the American chose to retire with his Filipino wife in Manila. He relied on his monthly pension of US$2,500, an amount that would not have been enough if he lived his retirement years in the US. He suffered for years from diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and slight dementia. He had unpaid medical bills when he was brought to a hospital where he died at the age of 84, after exhausting his life savings on medical care. Quality of life and death Heck’s demise in the Philippines raises the social security issue, a problem that even rich countries like the US are struggling with. As the world’s population gets older, the social security system has more senior citizens to support and fewer younger people to contribute to the system. Unless the system is changed, it will eventually break down. The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance says only in the last few years have leaders paid attention to the issue of dying with dignity and started investing in high-quality and affordable palliative care for the dying population. This is because, although inevitable, death is not something people discuss in daily conversation. It is taboo in many cultures. And yet, although most people do not want to talk about it, everyone wants a “good death” or rather, “a good life to the very end.” So what does a “good death” mean? In 2010, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) was commissioned by the Lien Foundation of Singapore to come up with an answer. The goal was to draw up a Quality of Death Index to evaluate countries on the quality of care they give to people who are dying. The index was revised and expanded in 2015. The new and expanded 2015 index evaluates 80 countries using 20 quantitative and qualitative indicators across five categories: the palliative and healthcare environment, human resources, the affordability of care, the quality of care and the level of community engagement. The main criterion for the Quality of Death Index is palliative care, defined by the WHO as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through…relief of suffering…and treatment of pain and physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems.” The EIU used official data and interviewed palliative care experts to construct the index. It noted that the proportion of older people in the population is growing and non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer are on the rise. The need for palliative care is therefore expected to increase. Quality of death rankings According to the EIU 2010, as well as the 2015 index, the United Kingdom has the best quality of death because of its comprehensive national policies, extensive integration of palliative care into its National Health Service, and a strong hospice movement. Income levels are a strong indicator of the availability and quality of palliative care, with rich countries topping the Index. Australia and New Zealand come second and third on the list, and four other comparatively developed Asian countries rank in the top 20: Taiwan at 6, followed by Singapore at 12, Japan at 14, and South Korea at 18. Otherwise, developed European countries dominate the top 20 together with the US and Canada at ranks 9 and 11, respectively. Ability to provide palliative care may be related to the wealth of the country. But there are some exceptions to the rule, demonstrating the power of innovation and initiative. An example is Panama, which is building palliative care into its primary care services. Other examples are Mongolia, which has beefed up its hospice facilities and educational programs, and Uganda, which has increased availability of opioids. The other Asian countries cluster around the middle to lower half rankings of the 80 countries included in the Quality of Death Index: Malaysia (38), Thailand (44), Indonesia (53), Vietnam (58), Sri Lanka (65), India (67), China (71), Myanmar (76), Philippines (78), Bangladesh (79) and Iraq (80). Asian social safety net? Asked to comment on the Philippines’ very low rankings, Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) vice-president Francisco Soria tells SciDev.Net that the “government social health insurance system takes care of the curative needs of the population and not yet the palliative care for the old and dying, which is just beginning to be discussed.” “In the Philippines, care for the dying is undertaken by close family members, which is probably a better arrangement emotionally and psychologically for the patient. It is not in Philippine culture to put patients away in an institution for palliative care,” Soria adds. In many other Asia-Pacific countries, social safety nets provided by the strong family systems should be taken into account when determining the criteria for the Quality of Death Index. If these initiatives provided by the social safety net were taken into account, I think the ranking of the Philippines and other Asian countries would go up. For example, my wife has hired a caregiver to give personal and hygiene care to her brother who is bedridden due to old age. He is living the rest of his days in comfort in his home, with his family around him, without depending on the government’s PhilHealth insurance system. Years ago, we had a caregiver who took care of my mother in the home of my sister, and my mother died comfortably at 88. After that my wife and I cared for her father in our home, with the assistance of a caregiver. He died at 86. I am sure there are plenty of such examples in Asian societies. So when we talk of Quality of Death Index, we do not think only of government programmes to care for the aged and dying but also the social safety nets that Asia-Pacific societies provide. ——— Source: SciDev.Net. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff. Tags: Aging, Aging Population, Death, Nobel Prize, Palliative Care, Philippines Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/10/features/richard-heck-nobel-quality-death-asia/
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