Allison Heinzeller - India

Allison Heinzeller was in Dharamsala, in the northern tip of India—home to the Dalai Lama and his exiled Tibetan government— educating women about infectious and chronic disease and teaching them to care for themselves with breast exams and other prevention practices. Heinzeller said she was struck by how the concept of prevention there differs so greatly from that of the developed world. “When I spoke to women about seeing a doctor for preventive care, they laughed and said if they did the doctor would scold them for wasting his time,” she explained. “The irony, of course, is that this community desperately needs preventive care.”