Why Rich Countries Should Care About the World's Least Healthy People
- Author Affiliations: O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC; and Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
- Contributing Author: Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001 (gostin{at}law.georgetown.edu).
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
- DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- ETHICS
- HEALTH SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY
- HEALTH STATUS
- POVERTY
- PUBLIC HEALTH
- SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS
- WORLD HEALTH
Why should rich countries care about the world's least healthy people? The subject is so important that it affects the fate of millions of individuals and has international economic, political, and security ramifications. Rich countries should care because global health serves their national interests, and helping the most disadvantaged is ethically the right thing to do. If international health assistance were structured in a way that was scalable (sufficient to meet deep needs) and sustainable (to create enduring solution), it would have a dramatic influence on the life prospects of the world's poorest populations.
National Interests in Global Health
It is axiomatic that infectious diseases do not respect national borders. But this simple truth does not convey the degree to which pathogens migrate great distances to pose health hazards everywhere. Human beings congregate and travel, live in close proximity to animals, pollute the environment, and rely on overtaxed health systems. This constant cycle of congregation, …
