Death in England
The beauty of the philosophical dilemma between Chadwick and Farr is that both took the stand which was in contradiction to what their role was. Chadwick looked at the death from medical perspective while Farr elaborated it from administrative perspective. Farr to a larger extent was correct and his theory founded the base of our present day healthcare system where the stress is on prevention rather than spending all the energy on cure. (Whitehead 2002)
According to Farr preventing a disease through providing food and better sanitation is comparatively easier than detecting all the causes of deaths as there isn’t sufficient number of qualified people to provide details of exact causes of deaths. The core reasons identified by Farr were living conditions and personal history. According to him the immunes of people to the living conditions vary according to their personal history but that doesn’t completely protect them from the effects of the disease.
Emphasizing on this point Farr explained that medical diagnosis has far greater importance in therapy and prognosis rather than solving etiological questions (Christopher Hamlin 1995). Based on this very observation, the large amount spent today on public hygiene and sanitation can be justified. Secondly as we know now that virus and bacteria do get immune to various medications so preventing the disease is far more economical than curing a disease. 2. Remaining consistent with your stance from the Chadwick-Farr article, provide your opinion of the recommendations in the `When Pestilence Prevails.
Physician Responsibilities in Epidemics. ` article. As Farr emphasized, that diseases are result of living conditions and individual differences so even in the case of an epidemic different people will have different surviving chances. Being a physician the person is more aware of what is going around so more likely to be prepared in terms how to protect himself /herself. If he/she can’t protect himself/herself then they are of no good to the survival endeavors. (Samuel J. Huber & Matthew K. Wynia 2004)
Physicians when they pass out from the medical schools take an oath to do their best to protect other fellow human being from diseases. SARS disease may have posed real safety threats to security workers all across the world but not tackling it may lead to an even bigger epidemic. Just imagine a respiratory disease like SARS starting approaching tipping point like AIDS in Africa. Not only it will be impossible to contain it but it also will be difficult to cure. 3. Explain any changes in your perspective between your comments about the Chadwick and Farr article, and you opinion of the Pestilence article.
For example, is your perspective consistent or did it change as a reflection of the era (1839 vs. 2004)? In real sense people may perceive that perspectives have changed over the years but in relative sense it remains the same. More information may enable us to make better decisions against the known disease but against an unknown disease the approach even today is same. People everyday are dying of starvation in Darfur but world is all focused on how to provide them medicine, nobody wants to spend money on less glamorous area of hygiene and sanitation.
At its peak according to Health experts estimates on an average 6000 to 10000 people were loosing their lives each month in Darfur due to disease, hunger and violence (Los Angeles Times, 2007). Similarly AIDS at present can only be either avoided or provided medication to prolong life in case of present infection. Governments across the world are spending large amount on spreading information but when it comes to providing relief through cheap medications they are giving into the big pharmaceutical giants. References Christopher Hamlin (1995) Could You Starve to Death in England in 1839?
The Chadwick Farr Controversy and the Loss of the Social in Public Health. American Journal of Public Health. Los Angeles Times (2007) Fewer People dying in Darfur, aid groups say. Retreived on 11th august from http://articles. latimes. com/2007/aug/26/world/fg-darfur26 Samuel J. Huber & Matthew K. Wynia (2004). When Pestilence Prevails… Physician Responsibilities in Epidemics. American Journal of Bioethics. Whitehead . M (2002) William Farr’s legacy to the study of inequalities in health. Bulletin of World Health Organization 2002.
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