Health human rights and intervention Flashcards
Contesting the dominant models
Bolivia:
-saw the need to protect the env and “law of mother earth”- prioritising over economic growth
-socialist movement redistributing land and wealth particularly to indigenous groups
(since 2015 Morales declined in popularity as economy slowed due o his involvement in a scandal- resigned in 2019)
Sharia Law:
-choosing non-secularisation and instead basing law on religious teachings e.g no interest can be paid on loans
-development is compatible with Islamic teachings
Health variations between developed countries
-North America, Europe, Oceania and Japan= much better health levels and life expectancies between 70.5 (Russia) -87.3 (Japan)
-variations between these are linked to diet, lifestyle, relative deprivation and access to medical care
-positive correlation between health spending and life expectancy= e.g. Russia spent $893 per capita compared to Switzerland $9,673
-Exception= South Korea + Japan who are doing well despite low expenditures and USA who has lower life expectancy despite high spending
Health variations within developed countries
Location: UK
-Southern have higher life expectancy=highest in Dorset at 82.9 lowest in Glasgow at 72.6 (for male)
-males life expectancy is increasing at faster rate=economic restructuring males now involved in less physically demanding work
-lifestyle has an impact= north south divide in UK partly due to smoking and alcohol patterns- County Durham highest smokers % and Liverpool highest admissions for alcohol issues
-people on lower incomes= lower educational attainment (often)= affects attitude to diet
Health of indigenous people within developed countries
Location: Australia
-indigenous= 3% of population
-life expectancy about 10yrs shorter
-infant mortality twice as high
-type 2 diabetes 3x more likely
-suicide rates are higher
Possible causes:
-poorer diet
-smoking rate 2x higher
-educational achievement is low
-incomes 38% lower
-often live in remote areas
Health variations between developing countries
Health variations within developing countries
Location: Pakistan
-health varies due to gender inequality
-majority of girls (especially poor, rural areas) marry young and may have several pregnancies as teens
-women’s health not considered a high priority in some areas of society
-6000 new cases of birth complications of which only 800 receive corrective surgery a year
Location: China
-health varies between rural and urban locations
-China’s wealth is not evenly distributed
-rural areas= isolated + poor infrastructure
-health 3x worse in rural areas
-maternal mortality rates in urban areas 20 per 100000 compared to 64 per 100000 in rural
Location: India
health variations between castes
-restricted access of those of the lower castes to water, sanitation and nutrition
-underweight/physical underdevelopment in children is higher in the lower castes
-higher mortality along the lower castes
Location: Kenya
health varies due to poverty levels
-has a high level of foreign debt so can not invest in healthcare as much as it needs to
-HIV/AIDS is a major issue- 1.5 million suffer
-this results in over 1.2 million orphans
-without intervention cycle of poverty and HIV/AIDS will continue as poor people can not afford the retroviral drugs that extend life= death rate high
Han’s Rosling viewpoint
argued that all countries have become more developed as they have all seen improvements in health, family size and life expectancy
but suggested goals for the future should be:
-environmental quality
-health and life expectancy of the poorest
-human rights
Believed economic growth is most important in achieving these 3 goals but also believes human rights are essential to economic growth
human rights cannot exits without good, stable governance
IGOs (World Bank)
World Bank:
-set up to provide loans for countries during economic recession or for building expensive infrastructure for development (not always successful)
-World Bank has been a founding member of Global Partnership for Education since 2002 to help achieve millennium development goals
-in 2016 launched a new initiative Climate Change Action Plan to help developing countries like to add 30gw of renewable energy to worlds energy capacity + provide early warning systems to 40 countries to end poverty since climate change threatens this
IGOs: The IMF
-established to provide loans for countries with financial difficulties so they could participate in international trade/transactions
-since 2000 shifted attention to global poverty through poverty reduction programme
-instead of imposed conditions countries now required to develop their own medium-term development plain in order to receive loans +debt relief
e.g helping Haiti after hurricane Mathew in 2016 to make it an emerging economy by 2030
IGOs: World Trade Organisation
-WTO operated since 1995 regulating world trade and overseeing negotiations between countries= promoting the removal/reduction of tariffs
-now try to tackle environmental problems caused by economic development by:
-restricting international ,movement of products/species which are harmful/endangered
-challenging trade agreements which may increase climate change e.g. forest clearance
Human right laws: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
-set up in 1948
-set out fundamentals of human rights that everyone is entitled to
-contains 30 articles
Example:
-article 1= all human beings born free and equal
-article 20= right to peaceful assembly and association
-article 26= everyone has the right to education
Limitations:
-some Islamic countries believe
it is too westernised (in 1990 produced a similar version- Cairo’s Declaration of Human Rights in Islam)
Human rights laws: European Convection on Human Rights
-Council of Europe (consists of 47 member states) drafted the ECHR as a treaty to protect human rights which has now been adapted to the national laws of all members (integrated in the 1998 Human Rights Act in UK)
-ensures that people can defend their rights in court + private/public organisations treat everyone equally
-protects15 fundamental rights and freedoms
Include:
-right to life
-prohibition of slavery/torture
-right to a fair trial;
-freedom of expression
Levels of political corruption
-in 2015 68% of 168 countries surveyed (developed, developing and emerging) had serious corruption problems causing an estimated financial loss of over $1 trillion a year
-an analysis of relationship between GDP growth rate and corruption in 18 emerging countries found a negative correlation
-corruption threatens human rights often increasing inequality particularly of disadvantaged groups
-UN recognised corruption as being at the core o many world problems
Geopolitical intervention: Development Aid success (Fighting Malaria)
as a result of international aid programmes:
-global rate of infections fell y 37% from 2000 to 2015
-mortality rates also fell by 60%
-over half of Sub-Saharan Africa provided with mosquito nets
-free access to new medicines
-better and more widely available diagnosis
-UN estimated 6.2 million deaths prevented since 2000
Geopolitical intervention: Development aid success (gender equality)
-1975 UN launched “UN decade for women”
-moved gender equality up priority list for funding and attention
-by 2014 $30 million targeted to gender equality programmes
Resulted in:
-44% decline in global maternity death rates since 1990
-more girls receiving education
(still some variations between countries in developing countries females still die younger and often girls do not receive education still)
Geopolitical intervention: Development aid success (Ebola)
Location: West Africa
-2014 West Africa saw largest outbreak of ebola
-WHO quickly declared it as an emergency sending teams of health workers
-WHO estimated that over 11,300 died
-EU provided nearly $3 billion in aid
-MSF set up 15 Ebola centres dealing with 8,500 patients and shipped 1400 tonnes of medical equipment
-a lot of aid was directed towards helping countries recover after outbreak
-by 2016 WHO declared the region free of the disease
Geopolitical intervention: Development aid unsuccess (aid dependency)
Location: Haiti
-recovery has been slow since 2010 living standards declined after 2010
-Christian Aid an NGO has worked with Haiti since 1980s
-reached 180,000 people through its £14million appeal fund which helped construct 500 earthquake-proof homes and trained 35,000 how to prepare and respond to disasters
Impacts of aid:
-local jobs lost to aid workers
-dependency created= NGOs provide 70% of Haitian healthcare and 85% of education
-only small amounts of aid money reached Haitians= of $10 billion only 1% went to NGOs and gov
-Haiti continues to face problems= remains one of poorest and worst governed countries
-but many aid providers are now reducing their operations- CA only contributed 0.97 o its funds to it in 2015
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Geopolitical intervention: Cutting of development aid
Location: US cuts Egypt aid
-Us had provided $80 billion in aid over the past 30yrs
-denied Egypt almost $100million
-held back another $195million
-until it sees improvements in Cairo’s human rights/democracy record
Geopolitical intervention: Development aid success (reducing aid dependency)
-efforts are being made to reduce aid dependency
-aid dependency declining by 1/3 avg in poorest countries
-in Mozambique fell from 67% in 1992 to 12% in 2014
Geopolitical interventions: Indirect military action/intervention
Location: USA military aid to Columbia
-Columbia has been one of argest recipients of military aid from US yet human rights are poor- documented use of torture
-USA argues that its aid helps Columbia to maintain peace/fight criminal organisations involved in people/drug trafficking (most cocaine that reaches US comes from here)
-also argues that it has imposed human rights conditions on payments- though only 25% withheld if conditions aren’t met
Geopolitical intervention: Direct military intervention (torture)
Location: US Guatanamo bay
-following 9/11 President Bush declared a “war on terror”
-military base (Guatanamo Bay,Cuba) used to hold detainees of this war
-US administration argued that since not on US soils were not covered by US laws
-allowed them to be held for an indefinite amount of time without access to legal representation/trial
-inspection of camp found evidence of torture which they argued were “enhanced interrogation techniques”
-In 2009 Obama signed an order banning “non-coercive methods of interrogation”
-however in 2017 still held 41 detainees
-America’s moral position has become compromised as a result + American citizens and personnel are now at greater risk of being treated harshly if captured
Geopolitical intervention
Economic growth and the env: Oil drilling
Location: Yasuni, Ecuador
-Yasuni is a 6101 square mile national park which is one of the most diverse ecosystems (655 species of tree)
-below sit almost a billion barrels of crude oil
-in 2016 first barrels were extracted
-the decision to extract has stemmed from country’s $3billion worth of debt - struct a deal with China called ‘oil for cash’
-Ecuadors state oil company= Petroecuador would sell oil to Petrochina
-China has loaned Ecuador $22billion for this
-habitats of Ecuador’s indigneous groups are being affected= they find shelter, sustenance and medicines in the natural resources of this landscape
Measures of success: democracy
moving from dictatorship to democracy often leads to:
-economic growth
-advancement of wellbeing/human rights
-political and social stability (US promotes democracy as long term solution to war on terror)
-less likely to go to war with one another
in the 1980s less than $1billion was spent on democracy aid each year in 2015 total was over $10 billion
36/57 countries that became democracies between 1980 and 1995 received democracy aid from US- e.g provided over $18million to Guatemala
