Health and Human Rights, Reaction Paper Example

Farmer (1999) examines whether health and living conditions in Russia’s overcrowded prosons exhaust the conditions of human rights violation. The author talks about intentionally prolonged pre-trial detention, “conditions amounting to torture.”(p. 1487) and ineffective medication delivered by humanitarian international organizations. Farmer (1999) describes the situation as a complex setting of pointing fingers at each other. Physicians claim that they are short of supplies due to the economic crisis. Prison representatives state that physicians choose ineffective treatment methods. Humanitarian organizations state that the medication delivered is effective for the drug-resistant MDR-TB. Nevertheless, the conditions in Russian prisons are not suitable for recovering from TB. On the other hand, they provide an ideal setting for the fast spreading of the epidemic, because prisoners are undernourished, hygiene standards are low and prisons are crowded.

In order to study human right abuses and breaches, however, one needs to consider the environment and economic characteristics of the country. In a struggling country with a large prison population, high rate of unemployment and a huge amount of debt, without infrastructure, the options for intervention are limited.

From the description of human rights violations Farmer (1999) indicates, it is evident that it needs to be intentional to deny treatments, circumstances from individuals. From the review, it is evident that physicians try their best to treat patients, however, the circumstances are not right. Humanitarian organizations deliver drugs, while managers of prisons are aware of the dangers of the epidemic. While it is distressing to see circumstances promoting health inequality in Russian prisons, it is likely that actors did not choose the right method to tackle them. Focusing on prevention instead of treatment, prisons could save money and humanitarian organizations could handle the issue more effectively through vaccination (Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis, 1995).

Works Cited

Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis “Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Correctional Facilities Recommendations of the Advisory Council for the Elimination of        Tuberculosis”. CDC Report. September 1995. Web.

Farmer, P.  “Public Health Matters. Pathologies of Power: Rethinking Health and Human Rights. American Journal of Public Health. October 1999, Vol. 89, No. 10. 1999. Print.