An ethical and prudential argument for prioritizing the reduction of parasite-stress in the allocation of health care resources.
Summary of "An ethical and prudential argument for prioritizing the reduction of parasite-stress in the allocation of health care resources."
The link between parasite-stress and complex psychological dispositions implies that the social, political, and economic benefits likely to flow from public health interventions that reduce rates of non-zoonotic infectious disease are far greater than have traditionally been thought. We sketch a prudential and ethical argument for increasing public health resources globally and redistributing these to focus on the alleviation of parasite-stress in human populations.
Affiliation
Science and Religious Conflict Project, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Institute for Science and Ethics, Oxford Martin School and Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1-1PT, United Kingdom. russell.powell@philosophy.ox.ac.u
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: The Behavioral and brain sciences
ISSN: 1469-1825
Pages: 30-31
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22289629
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X11001026
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Casuistry
A method of ETHICAL ANALYSIS that emphasizes practical problem solving through examining individual cases that are considered to be representative; sometimes used to denote specious argument or rationalization. Differentiate from casuistics, which is the recording and study of cases and disease.
Ethical Analysis
The use of systematic methods of ethical examination, such as CASUISTRY or ETHICAL THEORY, in reasoning about moral problems.
Dirofilaria Immitis
A filarial parasite primarily of dogs but occurring also in foxes, wolves, and humans. The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes.
Chagas Disease
Infection with the protozoan parasite TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI, a form of TRYPANOSOMIASIS endemic in Central and South America. It is named after the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, who discovered the parasite. Infection by the parasite (positive serologic result only) is distinguished from the clinical manifestations that develop years later, such as destruction of PARASYMPATHETIC GANGLIA; CHAGAS CARDIOMYOPATHY; and dysfunction of the ESOPHAGUS or COLON.
Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute
A class of traumatic stress disorders that is characterized by the significant dissociative states seen immediately after overwhelming trauma. By definition it cannot last longer than 1 month, if it persists, a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC) is more appropriate.
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