The moral mathematics of second-string medicine in West Africa

Welcome to Liberia

Women look at banners promoting health awareness in Monrovia, Liberia.
(Image credit: (LUC GNAGO/Reuters/Corbis))

The head of a three year old is surprisingly heavy. I position Kuna's limp neck over my lap and cradle her blue-black face in my gloved hands. Moving the harsh circle of the operating microscope's light over her unblinking eyes, I focus on the white pupils filling my view. Kuna is blind from cataracts.

"I would like to operate this patient, Dr. Rose. I can give her sight."

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