HLTHAGE 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Pharmaceutical Industry, Medicalization, Infant Mortality
27 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Politics about power - how to get someone to do what you want them to do. We cannot separate power from politics, or health from politics. Whose ideas get used and whose ideas get left behind. Although politics might involve the government, any power-structured relationship is. Health and illness are not merely biological stats - they are sites of political struggle. Social determinants of health can be structured/addressed through political means: housing, employment, income heavily influenced by political decisions, broader issues - environment, trade, migration, subject to all sorts of pressure from various directions. Rights enjoyed equally by all citizens, commodities held on an unequal basis. Debate: should state manage people"s health vs individuals right to pursue health on own terms: vaccination debates, euthanasia discussion, coverage of cam, drug control, nutritional information and availability. Fundamental conflict between individual liberty and social protection: greatest achievements in health improvements have come from changes that affect society broadly.
