Structural violence, a term ascribed to Johan Galtung, refers to a form of violence that is systematically and quietly embedded into the political, social and economic structures of a society to harm or place a group at a disadvantage. Though characterized as subtle, often invisible and difficult to hold any one responsible; in the case of this documentary however, it was clear who to assign culpability. The Big Pharma companies, the U.S government and individual country authorities worked together solely to profit from AIDS drugs, not to save lives. With millions dying and suffering, efforts were not made to reduce the price of patented drugs and or allow importation of the less costly, generic brands. Instead the giant West threatened countries
Our man made slow violence is starting to emerge from the shadows in which it has been lurking and growing. The events going on around the world in the past five years are issues that could have been avoided decades ago. For example, the tragic events in Flint Michigan could have been avoided decades ago if the lead piping was replaced. In the article “Who Poisoned Flint, Michigan” by Stephen Rodrick, he uses his memories to contrast the events happening in Flint to convey the point that everything could have been avoided if the people in charge cared enough to spend the money and end the slow violence.
I think Big Pharma companies skew their data very regularly. Although this is not ethical, it's practiced in this field because there is a certain probability calculated as it relates to side effects and ineffectiveness. For instance when we take Tylenol as a child we eventually become tolerant to the dosage. As we get older we need to increase the dosage even more than is advertised to get relief. The Pharma companies do not advertise that ALL pills have a toxicity level and will affect our organs at some point in time. Each pill is tested for toxicity levels before being released to the public. With that said, these companies take on a certain amount of acceptable risk when producing medication. The public has accepted this risk with
The abuse and evils of the corporate world FORCES US to have a BIG GOVERNMENT—for protection! One hundred percent fulfills George Orwell’s ‘1984, Big Brother is Watching’ OPPRESSIVE BOOT –- “crushing the face of humanity, forever.” https://www.facebook.com/1984.Big.Brother.Is.Watching/
In the video Escape Fire, I was so flabbergasted by the numbers and health outcomes we as a society have let our nation become. One of the most heart-wrenching evidence is, even though our health care industry is so expensive our health outcomes are the worse. 75% of disabilities and dead’s are preventable, according to the film.
Paul Farmer, an American medical anthropologist and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School argues that structural violence predominantly affects the world's socioeconomically poor. The chapter “On Suffering and Structural Violence” describes the story of two young Haitians who became the victims of social injustice and violence in Haiti. The article looks deeply into the everyday structural violence which oppresses people and causes them to suffer.
The history of humanity is written in blood. Even as violence as a whole is decreasing, acts of extreme violence continue to be perpetrated. To be clear, this essay is not about individuals violent and cold at their core. Such people are readily understood within the image of a lone, antisocial killer set apart from humanity by their very lacking of it. This essay is about violence conducted on a scale that can only be enabled by the participation of people who, under normal circumstances, would not act violent. The puzzle of how and why genocides, apartheid, state brutality, torture, and mob killings are perpetrated by ordinary people points to psychosocial mechanisms as their cause. Ordinarily non-violent people commit extreme violence
Market failure appears when there is a failure in allocation of goods and services. When the market is unsuccessful, the government is called to intervene and correct the failure. Over the years, government participation in the pharmaceutical market has been more wide-ranging than any other good or service. With the government’s ability to regulate, mandate, inform, finance and provide, their intervention to overcome market failure can be beneficial for the economy. Market failure plays a significant role in today’s economy.
A deadly virus that has killed thousands, terrifying many people that encounter it. FRONTLINE’S “The Age of AIDS” explains the history of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the issues that slowly unraveled as society tries to understand its ways. During the 1980s, it was a new and terrifying disease that took a hold on the nation. The increasing pandemic that occurred throughout many countries such as the United States, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, Uganda and China comprised of certain characteristics that seem to intertwine with one another. The prevalence of stigma and discrimination, and the significance of the government’s impression on the disease are recurring factors throughout the film that help explain the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in a detailed manner.
The Pharmaceutical industry has been in the spotlight for decades due to the fact that they have a reputation for being unethical in its marketing strategies. In The Washington Post Shannon Brownlee (2008) states, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow.” This honorable statement is completely lost in today’s world of pharmaceutical marketing tactics. These tactics are often deceptive and biased. Big Pharma consistently forgets their moral purpose and focuses primarily on the almighty dollar. Big Pharma is working on restoring their reputation by reforming their ethical code of conduct.
Today’s world is chockfull of power and violence. New allegations of sexual harassment surface every day in America. Almost every other week, terrorist attacks and mass shootings cause people to fear for their lives. Meanwhile, the President of the United States is threatening to start a nuclear war with North Korea, while millions of refugees in the Middle East are living in deplorable conditions because of the power vacuum that was created after the Iraq War. With irresponsible people in power and leaders and rebels turning to violence, what lies in store for our global society? Violence and power obviously play roles in social change, but how do scholar citizens reconcile this bitter truth? Using Hannah Arendt’s “On Violence,” Odon Von
Drug companies that test experimental drugs in foreign countries are acting unethically. They are acting unethically, such that they are not disclosing results from the tests. As per the national Pharmaceutical Control Bureau’s Web site, there are specific guidelines with which the experimenters would have to adhere to when dealing with drug reactions (Health-Asia, 2007, February 2). Following a practice like this is imperative because patient safety is number one. Additionally, recording results and sharing them is common decency for families that are affiliated with the person being tested. If something bad happened, such as death, families, if present and involved, should be notified. Another reason as to why I feel recording results is important is the fact that it allows for the experimenters/doctors to have visual data of what drugs work and what drugs do not work. This would enable them to potentially improve on any faults that are present in the drugs and prevent future casualties.
This was a very interesting news story. It saddens me to hear about corrupted pharmaceutical companies that would try to manipulate clinical trial data in order to acquire their own personal gains/profits. Pharmaceutical companies and the healthcare providers involved should place the health of the overall population as their top priority, but unfortunately, competition among diverse drug manufacturers entices certain companies to commit fraudulent activity in order to ensure their products get released into the market. Beneficence was definitely absent in this particular case, for these pharmaceutical companies and medical staff evidently did not have the intention of doing good for the general population and instead had covetous intentions
Yes, there is an impact on the pharmaceutical company, like those in the US as a result of differential prices between that country and other nations.
South Africa currently has the largest number of people in the world living with HIV/AIDS (avert.org, 2014). In the worldwide population, there are 37 million people with HIV and 25.8 million of those people live in Sub-Saharan Africa (AMFAR.org, 2015). This total is 70% of the total population diagnosed and 88% of the HIV population are children (amfAR.org, 2015). The Foundation for AIDS Research estimates that 1.4 million people were infected in 2014, and Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 66% of the AIDS mortality rate in 2014 (amfAR.org, 2015). Many political,
In December of 2007 to February of 2008, Kenya experienced ethnic violence triggered by a disputed presidential election held on 27 December 2007, over 1000 individuals were killed and 600,000 were displaced during post-election violence. The opponent’s supporters of the new president, protested saying that he had won due to election manipulation, the countries citizens went on a violent rampage killing Kikuyus, the country’s largest ethnic group. This is significant to global health because more than half a million people were displaced from their villages, homes and their way of life, getting uprooted due to violence especially those on Antiretroviral therapy for HIV which depends on continuous access to medications during those months was impossible. The main topics I will talk about in the essay will be the violence the country went through and the health effects on its citizens.