Rethinking Health and Human Rights, Reaction Paper Example

The author (Farmer, 1999) examines the relationship between human rights violations and health outcomes. Taking the example of the Russian prison, where it is almost impossible to recover from TB, the author claims that all the actors point fingers instead of finding the solution to tackle the epidemic.

The relationship between violence and human rights violations is evidence. However, to claim that violence and circumstances (lack of funds for medication, even for food in Russia’s prisons) would evidently result in TB becoming untreatable is not valid in this case. The lack of effective medicines has nothing to do with the circumstances in prison. The aspects of prison life include accommodation, nutrition, health care services and preventive health care. When all these aspects are at a low level, the negative impacts of the individual determinants of health outcomes  act as catalysts. While human rights can be declared as universal, countries like Russia are unable to keep health care service and even accommodation at a level suitable for humans, because of the lack of funds. While humanitarian help is provided for Russia, Haiti and countries where civil war, poverty, and social injustice prevent human rights to be provided for people, vaccinations and tablets do not reach the entire disadvantaged population.

Health education and training about preventive measures to stop the spread of epidemics among disadvantaged population would be more suitable for tackling the problem. For example, if physicians in prisons of Russia were provided training on how to detect TB early, how to prevent infection and complication, how to screen inmates newly arrived, they could reduce the number of new cases and their dependence on international TB drug treatment and vaccination aids.

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.