[00:00.00]Dr.Bethune’s impact on medicine
[00:03.37]was not singular. His career
[00:06.66]was very comprehensive, as
[00:08.95]noted above, as he
[00:10.59]attained an extraordinary list
[00:13.55]of accomplishments of highest merit.
[00:16.39]Among his many goals,
[00:18.69]was one goal that
[00:20.66]was not fulfilled until
[00:22.31]after his death. In 1938,
[00:25.11]while in China, he recommended
[00:29.59]a universal health system
[00:31.02]for Canada. Ironically,
[00:32.66]Donald Sutherland,the Canadian actor
[00:36.60]who played Bethune in the movie
[00:38.79]about the latter’s life,
[00:39.99]called “Bethune: the Making of a Hero”,
[00:43.16]had been married to
[00:44.48]the daughter of Douglas.
[00:46.01]Douglas, when he was
[00:48.85]the Socialist Premier of Saskatchewan,
[00:51.37]a western province in Canada,
[00:54.10]set up a social medicine
[00:55.75]scheme in his province.
[00:57.82]Later, in the 1960's,
[01:01.44]as a Member of Parliament
[01:03.07]in the national government,
[01:04.50]Douglas played a significant role
[01:06.46]in establishing a national health system.
[01:10.40]He later became known as the
[01:12.71]father of Canada’s Medicare system,
[01:15.98]as it was eventually called.
[01:18.40]Bethune is probably best known
[01:22.00]for his introduction of
[01:23.97]the mobile blood bank
[01:25.51]to the battlefield, and giving
[01:27.91]blood transfusions in the midst
[01:29.77]of heavy fighting. China worships
[01:33.38]him almost as a saint.
[01:35.24]Upon his death,the Chinese
[01:39.07]gave him a fond farewell.
[01:40.71]The charity of his soul
[01:43.77]still lives on among many Chinese.
[01:46.18]As Canadian teachers in China,
[01:49.24]we are often greeted
[01:51.21]by Chinese people, who make
[01:53.07]references of praise to
[01:55.26]this Great Canadian Doctor
[01:57.34]and humanitarian. Unfortunately,
[01:59.85]many Canadians know little
[02:02.81]about the incredible work
[02:04.56]for humanity undertaken
[02:06.42]by this remarkable man.
[02:09.05]This decent, in many ways,
[02:11.67]simple man was, indeed,
[02:13.64]one of the great world ambassadors
[02:16.70]who fought for the poor
[02:18.67]and less fortunate |