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globalhealthU reading for 9/26: human rights through a philosophical lens »
« Are human rights inherent or socially constructed?
Sep
27
GROW: How should we define Development?
By evad5735
Food for thought:
The clip, “My Role in Global Justice”, clip touches on several stories and examples very similar to life in Nepal. What thoughts and ideas from this clip are new to you? What makes them so different to what you previously thought about poverty and development?
After watching the clip “My Role in Global Justice”, what seems problematic about Hans Roslings’ idea of International Development? Specifically, what are some problems with only focusing on economic factors of development? What are some implications for Han’s idea that greater wealth means more health?
Tags: Boulder GlobeMed, development, globemed, GlobeMedCU, GROW, Hans Rosling, My Role in Global Justice.
Sep
25
globalhealthU reading for 9/26: human rights through a philosophical lens
By edohm
“Revolutions are based upon complaints. These complaints can arise from practical concerns, like having food at an affordable price, or from more theoretical or social concerns, such as being able to publicly speak one’s mind. Both are grounded in an understanding of what people ought to be able to enjoy as citizens of a country. This expectation of fundamental entitlements is what we talk about when we talk about human rights. But whether or not every person on earth has certain rights just by virtue of being a person alive on the planet — a concept I will refer to here as natural human rights — is a question of some controversy.” -Michael Boylan, “Are There Natural Human Rights?”
1) Read this excerpt from Universal Rights in Theory and Practice by Jack Donnelly.
2) Also check out this interesting op-ed New York Times article by Michael Boylan called “Are There Natural Human Rights?” It’s a little longer, but please read all of it if you have time. At least make sure you peruse it! We will be using it as a basis for our discussion this week. Let it be a stimulus for your own understanding and view of human rights.
Extra: This podcast is about an hour long, but check it out if you are interested in further exploring human rights from a philosophical point of view.
“Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.” -Robert F. Kennedy, 1966
Tags: bobby kennedy, eulogy, moral courage, ted kennedy.
Sep
24
What are your human rights?
By edohm
By Marie McDonnell
When various people were asked on the street the question “what are human rights?” The answer should be obvious. But it’s not. Human rights are by definition: the rights you have because you are human. They are unique in that they are universal and are applied to everyone. But often in American society they are often taken for granted.
The discussion of human rights came about at a very early age. In the 6th century BCE, it was Cyrus the Great who announced all slaves were free to leave and that everyone had the right to religion and so on. The idea spread quickly to Greece and other areas. It was not until 1948, however, after two world wars threatened to render human rights extinct, that a Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created by the efforts of the United Nations and Eleanor Roosevelt.
But the question comes about that if every single person has the right to education, food, and freedom of religion, why are children starving or women without an education? Why is there such a level of suffering around the world? These rights are not really enforced or pursued throughout the world in the areas that need it most.
Human rights need to be more than just words on page. Every person can do his or her part by beginning close to home. Start by acknowledging what your rights are and understanding that everyone deserves to have them.
Tags: education, freedom, Human Rights, universal rights.
Sep
19
Is compassion enough to help other people?
By Sweta
By Armando Jauregui
Nolan Watson, founder of Nations Cry, argues that compassion kills.
Compassion is “one of those amazing things hardwired into us, it is a part of our humanity, it is the type of thing that makes grown men cry when we see people die, [however], it has the ability to overcome our ability, our reason… it makes us short-sighted.”
What Watson wants to say is that rather than providing a temporary solution to a problem, we must focus on long-term, sustainable ways to help others. In his TEDx Talk he mentions Cathy, an orphaned child who could not read for many years. He poses the hypothetical situation that if organizations did not offer long-term and sustainable methods of support, like education, Cathy may grow up to have children for whom she cannot provide. This would mean the charity would now be supporting not one, but three individuals.
Additionally, once the family goes out on their own, lacking the education and life-skills necessary to have a good quality of living, they would most likely live in poverty and die of diseases. Since charities provide for a multitude of people, this same situation would apply not only to Cathy, but many others that the charity helps. Charity is not sustainable, and this is why it is important to provide support that can be carried throughout the person’s lifetime and passed down along generations.
This encompasses the belief that sustainability brings about a higher quality of life, something that GlobeMed at CU Boulder and our partner, Himalyan Healthcare, are actively pursuing.
Hantavirus in Yosemite: New batch of park visitors notified
By tess.zangara
September 14, 2012
Photo courtesy of Yosemite Riverside Inn
http://www.yosemiteriversideinn.com
News of the ninth case of hantavirus originating in Yosemite National Park came as officials began another wave of public notification, emailing 230,000 people who reserved lodging at the park since early June.
The rodent-borne disease has killed three visitors since mid-June. The latest case sickened a California resident who stayed in a Curry Village “signature tent cabin” in early July, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. The person has since recovered, he added.
The latest case was a milder infection, with flulike symptoms that did not advance to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the respiratory ailment that can prove fatal, according to park and health officials.
Officials have called the Yosemite outbreak unprecedented — more than one hantavirus infection from the same location in the same year is very rare. The disease is typically transmitted to humans when they inhale dust or dirt containing the droppings or urine of infected mice.
Officials have already sent emails and letters to about 3,100 people who reserved one of the 91 signature tent cabins, where all but one of the cases were believed to have originated.Thousands of additional notifications went out last week after another case was traced to the High Sierra Loop, the link between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows and other areas. But some recent visitors have complained about what they consider a dearth of information from the park.Park officials have said they focused initial outreach efforts on those believed to be most at risk.”We heard some concerns from visitors, and people read about it in the media, so we felt that we wanted to be proactive and transparent and get the word out to additional overnight visitors,” Gediman said. “We want to get out all the information we can.”
“Are you unaware that vast numbers of your fellow men suffer or perish from the need of the things that you have to excess, and that you required the explicit and unanimous consent of the whole human race for you to appropriate from the common subsistence anything besides that required for your own?”
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
And the second will give you hope
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”
“There is much to celebrate,” Lake said. “More children now survive their fifth birthday than ever before – the global number of under-five deaths has fallen from around 12 million in 1990 to an estimated 6.9 million in 2022 .”
But is this enough when we have this statistic to contend with?…
“around 19,000 boys and girls around the world are still dying every day from largely preventable causes, the UN said.”
This is a terrifying statistic. especially when we all live in a country of such privilege this kind of absolute poverty and death is almost if not entirely unimaginable.
So the rate of death for children under 5 is on the decline.
I have a question, in the coming years to decrease the rate of child deaths further what is more important, education on birth control and family planning or focusing on vaccinations and sanitation?
Which do you think is more effective? That is if we only had the resources to focus on one?
