Book Critque

Band- Aid for a Broken Leg is about Damien Browns, an Australian doctor, experiences during his placement in Africa. While traveling around Africa working with Doctors with no Borders, Damien Brown experiences, first hand, the many health issues developing countries have, such as Mavinga, South Sudan and Mozambique. Many of the encounters that Damien has can relate to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), specifically goal 3, which is to promote gender equality and empower women (Skolnik, 2012). The MDGs were created by the United Nations (UN), in 2000, to address health issues related to poverty, inequality and disease. There were eight goals and fifteen core targets related to them and the UN gave themselves fifteen years to achieve all eight goals (Skolnik, 2012). The book has many examples of how gender equality, education and health are linked and if present, can improve overall global health. Throughout the book women are shown to be inferior to men and if women had access to the same education as males they may be able to become equal. Improving education among women can lead to increased income earning opportunities and decrease violence against them, which will hopefully lead to gender equality (Skolnik, 2012).

One of the UNs main concerns is for boys and girls to be able to complete a full course of primary schooling (Skolnik, 2012). Allowing both boys and girls to have their primary education may lead to improvement of health for both males and females. More importantly give women the opportunity to become equal to men. Health and education are linked in this way because the education of women affects the health of their children and can prevent certain illnesses (Skolnik, 2012).

In many countries, women face many...

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...ove global health. Writing a non-fiction book allows for a stronger impact on global health because it shows Damien’s real life experiences and how he felt throughout his placement. Doctors with no Borders should not just treat patients, but have the ability to educate citizens about unwanted birth, prevention of diseases and educate medical staff on treatments, which would allow a great contribution to global health. Band-Aid for a Broken Leg is a very powerful and honest book that has reached many people, and hopefully allows the readers to act upon their awareness and try to make a difference in developing countries.

Works Cited

Brown, D. (2012). Band-aid for a broken leg: Being a doctor with no borders (and other ways to stay single). London, UK: Allen & Unwin.

Skolnik, R. L. (2012). Global health 101 (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.