Unhealthy Health Policy: A Critical Anthropological Examination

by Arachu Castro, Merrill Singer, Cesar E. Abadia-Barrero, Francisco Armada, Hans A. Baer, Katherine Elaine Bliss, Philippe Bourgois, David Buchanan, Claudia Chaufan, Robbie E. Davis-Floyd, Alice Desclaux, Paul Farmer, Didier Fassin, Sarah Horton, Kristen M. Jacklin, Salmaan Keshavjee, Kaveh Khoshnoo, Cathy Hodge McCoid, Carles Muntaner, Joan E. Paluzzi, James Pfeiffer, Imrana Qadeer, Susan Shaw, Tom Stopka, Wei Teng, Graham A. Tobin, Fouzieyha Towghi, Nalini Visvanathan, William Wagner, Howard Waitzkin, Wayne Warry, Linda M. Whiteford, Cathleen Willging

Overview

This new collection turns a critical anthropological eye on the nature of health policy internationally. The authors reveal that in light of prevailing social inequalities, health policies may intend to protect public health, but in fact they often represent significant structural threats to the health and well being of the poor, ethnic minorities, women, and other subordinate groups. The volume focuses on the 'anthropology of policy,' which is concerned with the process of decision-making, the influences on decision-makers, and the impact of policy on human lives. This collaboration will be a critical resource for researchers and practitioners in medical anthropology, applied anthropology, medical sociology, minority issues, public policy, and health care issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759105102
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	01/28/2005
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	7.26(w) x 9.24(h) x 1.27(d)

About the Author

Arachu Castro is Assistant Professor of Social Medicine in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston and Director of the Institute for Health and Social Justice at Partners in Health. She has taught at the University of Barcelona and the National School of Public Health in Spain, at the National University at Cordoba, Argentina, and at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Havana, Cuba. Merrill Singer is Associate Director and Chief of Research at the Hispanic Health Council in Hartford, Connecticut, as well as Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut Medical School and a member of the Executive Committee of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at the Yale University School of Public Health.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction. Anthropology and Health Policy: A Critical Perspective Part 2 PART I. International Institutions and the Setting of Health Policies Chapter 3 1. Pearls of the Antilles? Public Health in Haiti and Cuba Chapter 4 2. The Visible Fist of the Market: Health Reforms in Latin America Chapter 5 3. International NG's in the Mozambique Health Sector: The Velvet Glove of Privatization Chapter 6 4. Primary Health Care since Alma Ata: Lost in the Bretton Woods? Chapter 7 5. Shifting Policies Towards Traditional Midwives: Implications for Reproductive Health Care in Pakistan Chapter 8 6. The Contradictions of a Revolving Drug Fund in Post-Soviet Tajikistan: Selling Medicines to Starving Patients Chapter 9 7. Equity in Access to AIDS Treatment in Africa: Pitfalls amongst Achievements Chapter 10 8. Contracepting at Childbirth: The Integration of Reproductive Health and Population Policies in Mexico Chapter 11 9. How Healthy are Health and Population Policies? The Indian Experience Part 12 PART II. National Health Policies and Social Exclusion Chapter 13 10. Happy Children with AIDS: The Paradox of a Healthy National Program in an Unequal and Exclusionary Brazil Chapter 14 11. Between Risk and Confession: The Popularization of Syphilis Prophylaxis in Revolutionary Mexico Chapter 15 12. Saving Lives, Destroying Livelihoods: Emergency Evacuation and Resettlement Policies in Ecuador Chapter 16 13. Social Illegitimacy as a Foundation of Health Inequality: How the Political Treatment of Immigrants Illuminates a French Paradox Chapter 17 14. The Indian Health Transfer Policy in Canada: Toward Self-Determination or Cost Containment? Chapter 18 15. Land and Rural New Mexican Hispanics' Mistrust of Federal Programs: The Unintended Consequences of Medicaid Eligibility Rules Chapter 19 16. The Death and Resurrection of Medicaid Managed Care for Mental Health Services in New Mexico Chapter 20 17. Sugar Blues: A Social Anatomy of the Diabetes Epidemic in the United States Chapter 21 18. Syringe Access, HIV Risk, and AIDS in Massachusetts and Connecticut: The Health Implications of Public Policy Chapter 22 19. Why it is Easier to Get Drugs than Drug Treatment in the United States? Chapter 23 20. U.S. Inner City Apartheid and the War on Drugs: Crack among Homeless Heroin Addicts Chapter 24 PART III. Impact of Policy on the Practice of Medicine Chapter 25 21. United States Health Policy on Alternative Medicine: A Case Study in the Co-optation of a Popular Movement Chapter 26 22. Home Birth Emergencies in the United States: The Trouble with Transport Chapter 27 23. Why Is Prevention Not the Focus for Breast Cancer Policy in the Unites States Rather than High-Tech Medical Solutions? Part 28 Index

Editorial Reviews

This collection is an important addition to several relatively recent and highly critical assessments of contemporary development efforts. . . . Recommended. Graduate students/faculty/professionals.

Choice

This collection is an important addition to several relatively recent and highly critical assessments of contemporary development efforts. . . . Recommended. Graduate students/faculty/professionals.

CHOICE