Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures—and Yours

Chapter Ten

Barefoot Doctors and Medical Tourists

Futile Attempts to Confront the Grim Reaper

Outside the former capital city of Kazakhstan is a region considered the birthplace of the apple. Botanists are currently investigating wild apple trees in the area’s remote forests to find varieties highly resistant to disease. In fact the previous name of the old capital, Alma-Ata (now Almaty), translates to “father of the apple.”

Botanists are not the only researchers in Alma-Ata. In September 1978 Alma-Ata hosted an international health conference attended by 134 countries and 67 international organizations. Out of that conference came the Declaration of Alma-Ata, which stated, “Governments have a responsibility for the health of their people” to ...