Justice and Access to Healthcare

Justice and Access to Health Care

Medicine has entered a new frontier of technology where the possibilities of treatments and procedures seem limitless, yet one often struggles with who is entitled to these treatments. Medical procedures range from physical augmentations based a fixation with preserving youth to circumstances which dictate quality and preservation of life. It is important to look at allocation from both a macroscopic as well as microscopic level in order to appreciate the various nuances which exist in the system as well as to analyze ways in which one could potentially create a more efficient system. Health care systems often tend to favor certain groups over others due to the lack of resources and funding. The integral question in this situation therefore becomes on what basis can one individual really override another for a particular treatment on a national as well as an international scale?

Callahan makes a convincing point about the improvement of quality of life rather than a mere extension of it. This is important to consider as the advancements in technology has led to a fixation in preserving youth. The notion of older age is seen through a negative light as people want to slow down their aging process. The constant strides in medicine in order to lengthen the amount of years one is alive along with the preservation of skin and body in order to prevent signs of aging all indicate a negative perspective towards older age. The disparity is produced by the influence of media which dictates that young is beautiful and that somehow “old” needs to be avoided by all means whether by changes in diet or physical augmentation among other procedures.

it is important to consider all factors before judging someone based solely on their age. This circumstance should nevertheless be conditional on the basis that the treatment is done for the improvement of quality of life of the individual and not merely due to a desire to extend that life.

Although one can sense of what a “fair” health care system would be like based on the principles presented in B & C, it is an idea which is discussed more in theory than seen in practice. Furthermore, one certainly cannot discuss fairness without addressing global implications of health care as we live in a world where our lives are very much intertwined with lives of the people who live in other parts around the world. The notion of a “fair” health care will only hold true when health care systems around the world implement a system by which every individual has some access to some form of care. Therefore, one must keep in mind that although the word “fair” is used interchangeably in many health debates, it seems to be used more in the context of an isolated location and does not take into account the global health care system.

The global health system and its numerous subsystems suffer not only from the scarcity of resources but more so because of the inaccessibility to treatment and medications. Although finding a cure for a disease like HIV/ AIDS is important, it seems that this may not be the solution. Even if a cure was found there is definitely no guarantee that this treatment would be able to reach the numerous individuals who are affected in Sub Saharan Africa and in many parts of Asia. The cure would most easily be provided to individuals who can afford this care and will be allocated to these individuals merely due to their ability to pay for these medications. It seems that the only way the problem of allocation would ever be tackled were if severe adjustments in infrastructure and health policy were made in countries which actually have the means to help out in many parts of the world but chose not do so because they are overly involved in matters which protect their own interest.