The contrast between the Ice Bucket Challenge and this summer’s other major health story, the worst Ebola outbreak in recorded history, could not be more striking. While thousands of Americans soak themselves to benefit ALS research, Ebola has become a public-health catastrophe in West Africa, one of the world’s poorest regions.
NEW YORK – The “Ice Bucket Challenge” was the feel-good health story of the summer. YouTube videos of friends, family, and co-workers emptying buckets of ice-cold water over their heads has raised awareness, and millions of dollars in funding, for research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is a degenerative neuromuscular disease that robs thousands of people worldwide of active control of their muscles, making them prisoners in their own bodies. Research on ALS should be well funded, and the campaign appears to show the public’s readiness to fight for anything that might save lives.
NEW YORK – The “Ice Bucket Challenge” was the feel-good health story of the summer. YouTube videos of friends, family, and co-workers emptying buckets of ice-cold water over their heads has raised awareness, and millions of dollars in funding, for research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is a degenerative neuromuscular disease that robs thousands of people worldwide of active control of their muscles, making them prisoners in their own bodies. Research on ALS should be well funded, and the campaign appears to show the public’s readiness to fight for anything that might save lives.