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pece_annotation_1473631990

josh.correira

AIDS care was studied in the united states and it was found that social factors were more predicting than individual factors about whether or not an individual would contract the disease

This was also studied in Rwanda using a model designed in Haiti using the “PIH model of care” to study social inequalities and prevent the effects of poverty that lead to death by AIDS, TB, malaria.

Structural interventions were also incorporated into clinical medicine as it was argued that social interventions, while not traditionally part of a physician's duties, have more of an impact that clinical interventions

pece_annotation_1473624286

joerene.aviles

The main argument was that there are "biosocial phenomena" or "structural violence" that lead to the tendency for certain diseases or lack of treatment in populations, particularly those in poverty. Their three major findings were: they can make structural interventions to "decrease the extent to which social inequities become embodied as health inequities", proximal interventions can reduce premature morbidity and mortality, and structural interventions "can have an enormous impact on outcomes.

pece_annotation_1473626291

joerene.aviles

Almost all of the references cited in the bibliography were taken from Google Scholar, implying that the authors used this database to collaborate on the article through the internet. Many of the articles cited were from Paul Farmer's own works, so he also seems like the main contributor to the article.  

pece_annotation_1473631965

josh.correira

One of the main arguments in this publication is that the spread of illness is often determined by social forces. For example, impoverished individuals may be more susceptible to illness because they cannot afford the proper treatment, not because they are more likely to contract the illness. This is described as structural violence: socio-structural factors that prevent people from achieving their full potential, e.g. receiving medical care.

pece_annotation_1473620729

joerene.aviles

Bruze Nizeye and Sara Stulac both work with Partners in Health (founded by Paul Farmer) while Salmaan Keshavjee is a physician and researcher whose expertise is in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and global health. Farmer's and Keshavjee's anthropological research in particular is important to emergency response because it would allow for improved preparation of treatment to those communities. Their work in seeing the social causes of health epidemics would also allow for better prevention of disasters. 

pece_annotation_1473625831

joerene.aviles

Emergency response isn't explicitly addressed in the article, but in order to incorporate structural interventions into public health, emergency response would have to be improved as well. As the article states, there are many "diseases of poverty" and medical emergencies would be more common in those populations. Noting these trends can streamline medical response and help with providing education/ resources to prevent emergencies.

pece_annotation_1473631952

josh.correira

The authors are Paul E. Farmer, Bruce Nizeye, Sara Stulac, Salmaan Keshavjee. Paul. E. Farmer is a physician and anthropologist and co-founder of Partners in Health (PIH). He has been described as “the man who would cure the world.” PIH was involved in the disaster response after the earthquake in Haiti. Dr. Farmer has a number of publications including one titled “AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame.”