The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #74928

Luz Alvarez, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2344 W. Taylor, Apt. 2F, Chicago, IL 60612, 312-491-9859, lalvar9@uic.edu

Purpose

This research was carried out to find moral foundations to the right to public health, because of in several countries this right does not exist neither a judicial nor philosophical field.

Significance:

When we refer to public health as a human right, one of the most important theoretical challenges is support this right from a moral perspective different from the social one. In fact, many people can disagree with poor children, women and older suffering preventible illness because of lack of a health insurance or adequate public health programs. However it is not enough to support that ought to be a universal right to public health. We can observe that the most relevant philosophical theories support that there are not this kind of social rights. Those latter are being applied in the most of western countries.

Analyzing the “Welfare as Capability” theory by Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize of economy in 1998) and the John Rawls theory about the social justice we can find important contributions to support from the philosophical perspective the right to public health.

Methods:

This was one qualitative study based on the analysis of the works by Amartya Sen and Jhon Rawls. They were reviewed 12 books and several articles written by them and some other articles written by other authors about their works. All those texts focus on social justice specifically on the conflict between social and economical rights (such as the right to pubic health) vs the civil and political rights.

Results

Based on the works of those two authors we can affirm that the right to health may be supported due to the role of the public health in the following social aspects:

a) The guarantee of the just equality of opportunities. b) The expansion of the different kinds of liberty. c) The Public health as capability d) The building of the democracy

Learning Objectives:

• After reviewing the poster presentation the observers will be able to:
• 1. Recognize why the public health ought to be a universal human right.
• 2. Recognize the importance of support the right to public health from a moral (philosophical) perspective.
• 3. Appreciate the contributions of the Amartya Sen’s Theory “Welfare as Capability” and of “Justice as Fairness” theory by John Rawls to the moral foundation of the right to public health.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.