Alehandra VilegasModule #9 readings

According to Gostin, Lawrence. Global Health Law. (Pp. 243-269), Gostin tells us about global justice, human dignity and personal security were he views health as a human right and not something that can be purchased as many perceives it. Since human rights law advocate for equity then it is important to give every human being equal health treatment. By equal health treatment, food, water and housing are included since they are significant determinants of good health. He goes further to tell us even though the above human rights are recognized worldwide, there is still unfair treatment of people health wise globally. Global health equity is the unmet challenge that the world is yet to embrace. Quoting from the reading, “Health equity is the great unmet challenge of the health and human rights movement of our time.” Globally, human rights are violated daily, and the human right commissions are weak at embracing the rights. States fail on their responsibility to protect the rights but there are pathways to achieving human rights which individuals can follow to ensure there is equality. Gostin suggests that through social movement, human can help champion their health rights. Just like the early AIDS movements, then to achieve the health rights and equality can be done the same way. One common misconception is that civil and political rights to not need immediate attention but it should be noted that human rights especially the health law do require much attention and a lot of resources dedicated to it. From the reading, the world is informed that nearly 60 years after the United Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, the U.S. called the right to health “an ultimate goal, not an immediate entitlement.”

In the reading Week 9 Saussy Partner to the Poor – Apr 6 2017 – 3-31 PM.pdf, it begins by saluting Paul Farmer as a hero, anthropologist and a doctor to the poor. Saussy recognizes Paul Farmer’s research on the effect that beliefs on tuberculosis had on final outcomes of treatment. He found out that food and social support were determining factors to how the patient responded to the treatment methods. From the research, the author then suggest that it is essential to train on social and cultural factors and not only doing so in clinical factors. Through education, doctors can serve as natural attorney to the poor seeking health services. Doctors need not to make immodest claim of casualty but they need to help do away with the so call cultural factors in order to attain equal global health. Saussy turns his discussion to epidemiology by describing the 1980s CDC data on the AIDS epidemic which had just emerged. “Social medicine…seizes on certain organizing principles of society and reworks them for the sake of medical efficacy.” Saussy pushes for helping the needy with the phrase that something is better than nothing. We should not blame clinical failures instead the world and medical society should examine global priorities. According Saussy, “The justification for the ‘different standards of care treatment for the affluent, no treatment for the poor’ and the consequent ‘outcome gap’ was presented in the language of economics.” This leads to the to the questions Why has AIDS killed many people since the 20th century? According to Saussy health relies on the efforts of reasonably decent people.

From the reading Week 9 Pathologies of Power – Apr 6 2017 – 3-23 PM.pdf, it begins by addressing the hierarchy of suffering. From 141 countries, 27 countries are faced with extreme suffering in the health sector. Farmer gives an example of Haitian women who suffer and it is explained by Acephie’s story. Women interviewed claimed to be forced into involuntary sexual activities because of unfavorable conditions such as poverty. Suffering in the health sector results from racism, poverty and political factors. The reading is basically about Accephie’s story and the suffering encountered in the health sectors as a result of social, political and cultural factors. Paul Farmer pauses Farmer asks, “How might we discern the nature of structural violence and explore its contribution to human suffering? Can we devise an analytic model, one with explanatory and predictive power, for understanding suffering in a global context?” There is a lot of discrimination in the health sector and this should not be confused with structural violence. Discrimination in the health sector can end up leading to death. Gender alone does not define inequality and suffering in the health sector. Poverty is a key cause of people making desperate decisions which will end up affecting their health. Socioeconomic status explains the difference in mortality rates between the blacks and white and also America and African countries.

The three readings suggest that there is a lot of inequality in the health sector which leads to the global health law sector not performing. Accessibility of health services should be a human right should be distributed equally among nations in order to achieve equal rights. Health is a human right and hospitals should embrace this fact by granting everyone equal access to health services regardless of race, gender and social class. From the three readings, resources in the health sector must be available sufficiently in order to attain quality health services offered equally without limiting resources. Health resources should be accessible to everyone in a transparent manner, issues with racial and gender discrimination should not be included here. In accordance with respect to privacy, health services should be offered as instructed by national medical association and other bodies such as World Health Organization. The services should be of quality and appropriate since health care is a human right and a basic requirement. From the readings, it can be deduced that it is the responsibility of every human to participate in public policy in order to ensure the effectiveness of the services given and what needs to be improved in the global health sector. It is a social responsibility to implement the provisions provided in global health law in order to achieve maximum and quality health services. Participation is through meaningful engagement in health policy. The government needs to stand up for the rights of people and ensure no forms of corruption in the health sector. Just like the readings suggest, health is a basic requirement thus matters concerning it should be adhered to.