Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

by John Green

It is common to say that Sierra Leone is a poor country, but this is not the case. It is an exceptionally rich country with vast wealth in metal ores and especially in diamonds, which during centuries of colonialism encrusted many a British crown. After achieving independence in 1961, the new government struggled to transition away from this extraction-based economy. This was in part because systems to mine and export diamonds and minerals were more mature and robust than any other economic sector, and in part because independence didn’t change the fact that many of the most valuable assets in Sierra Leone were (and still are) foreign-owned. Although the economy grew and life expectancy increased after independence, the country remained deeply impoverished. The Sierra Leonean physician Dr. Bailor Barrie once told me, “If you want to understand why Sierra Leone is poor, you must look at a map of our railroads.”