“we have seen that it is possible to decrease the extent to which social inequalities become embodied as health disparities”
“National health insurance and other social safety nets, including those that guarantee primary education, food security, and clean water, are important because they promise rights, rather than commodities, to citizens.”
“: structural violence remains a highranking cause of premature death and disability”
Personal experiences and other research articles from scholars and physicians were used to develop the arguments in this article.
The authors used the healthcare developments of Boston, Haiti, and Rwanda where they have worked to provide access to healthcare. In Rwanda they provided easier access to HIV medications and trained neighbors or relatives of the patient on how to administer the treatments so they would not have to go to a clinic. They discussed a similar program that occurred in Haiti but for tuberculosis. In providing these treatments to people who previously could not afford them, they increased their life expectancies. In Rwanda they showed that in providing formula to mother with HIV or AIDs they were no longer transmitting the disease to their children. Previously the mothers could not purchase formula and the only way they could feed their babies was breast feeding.
Emergency response is not specifically addressed in this article but access to health care is, which is just as important. Limiting the access to healthcare because of socioeconomic conditions contributes to the spread of diseases.
This article brings forth the idea of “structural violence.” This develops the argument that in areas in poverty people to not have access to the treatments or medication they may need and in denying people treatment/ medications disease will continue to spread and worsen. The article argues that providing healthcare to those who can’t afford it not only increases their life expectancy but decreases transmission rates and can potentially lead to the eradication of certain diseases.
After reading this article I looked further into the ART treatment that was discussed, the mother to child transmission program, and I read more about what Paul Farmer has done in his career.
Paul Farmer is an American physician and anthropologist who is known for providing appropriate healthcare in under developed regions and developing countries. Farmer is situated in emergency response in that he is a physician providing care to those in need and works toward ensuring that people will have access to healthcare despite socioeconomic conditions. Bruce Nizeye works alongside Farmer and specializes in TB infection control in Rwanda. Sara Stulac is a physician who specializes in women’s and children’s healthcare. Her focus has included pediatric HIV prevention and treatment, malnutrition care, inpatient pediatrics and neonatology, and pediatric oncology and other non-communicable disease treatment. Salmaan Keshavjee is a physician who specializes in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and in providing access to healthcare in poverty stricken regions.
This article is referenced in a medical journal that discusses cultural effects on the healthcare system.
The article has a very long list of references and most seem to be primary sources. This shows the article was developed and is supported by people who are helping and seeing people struggling economically and the effects it has on their health.
Paul Farmer is an American physician and anthropologist who is known for providing appropriate healthcare in under developed regions and developing countries. Farmer is situated in emergency response in that he is a physician providing care to those in need and works toward ensuring that people will have access to healthcare despite socioeconomic conditions. Bruce Nizeye works alongside Farmer and specializes in TB infection control in Rwanda. Sara Stulac is a physician who specializes in women’s and children’s healthcare. Her focus has included pediatric HIV prevention and treatment, malnutrition care, inpatient pediatrics and neonatology, and pediatric oncology and other non-communicable disease treatment. Salmaan Keshavjee is a physician who specializes in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and in providing access to healthcare in poverty stricken regions.