Priorities of Global Justice

Considering cost-effectiveness: the moral perspective

Achieving good value with scarce resources is a substantial moral issue for global health. This claim may be surprising to some, since conversations on the ethics of global health often focus on moral concerns about justice, fairness, and freedom. But outcomes and consequences are also of central moral importance in setting priorities. In this chapter we explore the moral relevance of cost-effe...

The Future of Disease Control Priorities; Comment on “Disease Control Priorities Third Edition Is Published: A Theory of Change Is Needed for Translating Evidence to Health Policy”

The Disease Control Priorities (DCP) project has substantially influenced national and global health priorities since 1993. DCP’s basic framework involves identification of disease burdens based on premature deaths and disability and application of the most cost-effective interventions to the largest burdens, taking into account local feasibility. The future impact of DCP will need to take into...

Global Surgery Priorities: A Response to Recent Commentaries

Power and Priorities: The Growing Pains of Global Health; Comment on “Knowledge, Moral Claims and the Exercise of Power in Global Health”

Shiffman has argued that some actors have a great deal of power in global health, and that more reflection is needed on whether such forms of power are legitimate. Global health is a new and evolving field that builds upon the historical fields of public and international health, but is more multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary in nature. This article argues that the distribution of power ...

A framework convention on global health: health for all, justice for all.

Health inequalities represent perhaps the most consequential global health challenge and yet they persist despite increased funding and innovative programs. The United Nations is revising the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that will shape the world for many years to come. What would a transformative post-MDG framework for global health justice look like? A global coalition of civil society...

Healthcare Priority-Setting: Chat-Ting Is Not Enough; Comment on “Swiss-CHAT: Citizens Discuss Priorities for Swiss Health Insurance Coverage”

CHAT has its limits. It is a three-hour exercise. However, the real world problems of healthcare rationing and priority-setting are too complex for a three-hour exercise. What is needed, as a supplement, are sustained processes of rational democratic deliberation that can address the challenges to healthcare justice posed by costly emerging medical technologies, such as these targeted cancer th...