Health and Social Justice : Politics, Ideology, and Inequity in the Distribution of Disease

Rating:
Summary: Book incredibly timely...
Review: With the onset of an election year, Richard Hofrichter's book Social Justice and Health is incredibly timely and important. Despite being the 2nd richest nation in the world (only Luxembourg has a higher average GDP), Americans have one of the worst health profiles. The contributers to Hofrichter's book points out the many reasons why this is the case: The USA has the greatets proportion of citizens in low paying jobs, has the greatest number of poor people, and the greatest gap between rich and poor. This condition is made worse by its especially low spending on social infrastructure and on services that support the citizenry.

This profile is a result of policy decisions made by governments and endorsed by many Americans for whom these decisions are clearly not in their own interest. The book outlines many policy solutions, but such solutions will require that there is recognition of the fundamental injustice of the profound economic inequality present in the US.

Another important aspects of the book is the documenting of the strong links between political, economic, and social aspects of a society and the health of its citizenry. Americians and others need to be made aware that the primary determinants of whether they stay healthy or not is not whether they exercise, eat fruits and vegetables but rather the economic and social conditions to which they are subjected.

This book is a must-read for anyone working in health care, public health, social services or any sector concerned with the well-being of citizens. It will be especially of interest for the well-educated general reader concerned with the direction in which American public policy is moving.

Rating:
Summary: Book incredibly timely...
Review: With the onset of an election year, Richard Hofrichter's book Social Justice and Health is incredibly timely and important. Despite being the 2nd richest nation in the world (only Luxembourg has a higher average GDP), Americans have one of the worst health profiles. The contributers to Hofrichter's book points out the many reasons why this is the case: The USA has the greatets proportion of citizens in low paying jobs, has the greatest number of poor people, and the greatest gap between rich and poor. This condition is made worse by its especially low spending on social infrastructure and on services that support the citizenry.

This profile is a result of policy decisions made by governments and endorsed by many Americans for whom these decisions are clearly not in their own interest. The book outlines many policy solutions, but such solutions will require that there is recognition of the fundamental injustice of the profound economic inequality present in the US.

Another important aspects of the book is the documenting of the strong links between political, economic, and social aspects of a society and the health of its citizenry. Americians and others need to be made aware that the primary determinants of whether they stay healthy or not is not whether they exercise, eat fruits and vegetables but rather the economic and social conditions to which they are subjected.

This book is a must-read for anyone working in health care, public health, social services or any sector concerned with the well-being of citizens. It will be especially of interest for the well-educated general reader concerned with the direction in which American public policy is moving.