Concepts and Practice of Humanitarian Medicine PDF
Preview Concepts and Practice of Humanitarian Medicine
Concepts and Practice of Humanitarian Medicine Concepts and Practice of Humanitarian Medicine Edited by S. William A. Gunn, MD, FRCSC, FRCSI(Hon), DSc(Hon), Dr h c President, International Association for Humanitarian Medicine Formerly Head, Emergency Humanitarian Operations, World Health Organization Michele Masellis, MD Director, International Association for Humanitarian Medicine President, Mediterranean Council for Burns and Fire Disasters S. William A. Gunn Michele Masellis International Association Mediterranean Council for Humanitarian Medicine for Burns and Fire Disasters Bogis-Bossey Palermo Switzerland Italy ISBN: 978-0-387-72263-4 e-ISBN: 978-0-387-72264-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2007932935 ⃝c 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. All Statements are the responsibility of their respective authors. Printed on acid-free paper. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com This book is dedicated to the vision of Dr George Brock Chisholm, O.C. and to the action of the World Health Organization, 1948–2008 Preface Parallel with their spectacular and life-saving advances in biotechnology, the health sciences have been increasingly strengthening their responsibility and humanitar- ian action. Current inequalities, conflicts, and stresses, however, continue to dis- advantage the health and well being of an unacceptably large proportion of the world’s population, whether in developing countries, in industrially insalubrious environments, in disaster situations, in chronic poverty, or in sick opulence. Sev- eral intergovernmental and non-governmental institutions, in particular the World Health Organization and the medical profession, address these issues boldly, yet the problem continues and in many aspects is becoming worse. In the face of this situation, a group of concerned professionals from many disciplines established the International Association for Humanitarian Medicine Brock Chisholm, based on the principles of the United Nations, the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, the WHO Collaborating Centre, and WHO’s founding father, Dr G. Brock Chisholm. The beginnings of the Association go back to 1984, to the Brock Chisholm Memorial Trust, now incorporated as the International Association for Humanitarian Medicine Brock Chisholm (IAHM), with an expanded mission. This is not a question of repeating a Red Cross, or Médecins Sans Frontières, or Save the Children, nor, of course, of duplicating any of the specialized functions of the World Health Organization or of Amnesty International. It is not a question of rushing to an epidemic focus, disaster site, refugee camp, or torture prison. Many, many are doing these, and are doing them well. Certainly basic, essential care must be made available, and there are those who make them available. Yet Health for All remains far from being within the reach of all. We would like to be in a position of helping that dream come true. It is every human being’s right to have access to such essential care, the human right to health. Besides such basic health care, many working in developing countries and disas- ter situations have noted with dismay that any patient needing a slightly advanced, let alone specialized, treatment usually falls by the wayside. Without in any way encroaching upon programmes of primary health care or disaster relief, IAHM would like to and can fill this niche, can respond to these situations and provide the kind of specialized health care that is not available in poor country x or disaster site y, all within a humanitarian philosophy. To this end, IAHM has an open-ended network of hospitals on the one hand, and of health providers and specialists on the other, who, in many countries, have formally agreed to look after such patients, vii viii Preface without charge, on an entirely humanitarian basis. It has been christened World Open Hospital (WOH), and any hospital or any physician can join it any time. Therefore: In conceptual yet tangible ways IAHM aims at: • promoting the precept of health as a human right; • strengthening the contribution of health as a bridge to peace; • advancing humanitarian principles in the practice of medicine; • facilitating the availability of Health for All. In practical terms the Association will additionally: • provide specialized medical and surgical treatment, free of charge, in or from countries where such treatment is not possible; • mobilize hospitals in developed countries to receive, and doctors to treat, such patients entirely on a humanitarian basis; • provide similar services in disaster situations; • collaborate with institutions pursuing similar objectives. Our definition of humanitarian medicine should facilitate understanding the spirit and mission of the International Association for Humanitarian Medicine Brock Chisholm: While all medical intervention to reduce a person’s sickness and suffering is in essence humanitarian, Humanitarian Medicine goes beyond the usual therapeutic act and promotes, provides, teaches, supports, and delivers people’s health as a human right, in conformity with the ethics of Hippocratic teaching, the principles of the World Health Organization, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Red Cross Conventions and other covenants and practices that ensure the most humane and best possible level of care, without any discrimination or consideration of material gain. In 2005, the International Association for humanitarian Medicine published the first book entirely dedicated to humanitarian medicine. This is a sequel to that volume, expanding the basic concepts and adding 14 chapters. Like its predecessor, this new edition is respectfully offered to the global and humanitarian health community. S.W.A. Gunn M. Masellis Acknowledgments This publication and its predecessor Humanitarian Medicine have been made possi- ble through the continuous collaboration of the Brock Chisholm Memorial Trust, the International Association for Humanitarian Medicine, and with the generous finan- cial assistance of the Sicilian Regional Parliament. These expressions of support are gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are also due to the Regents, authors, participating experts, and humanitarian health organizations for their valuable scientific, medical, and moral contributions to the mission and growth of humanitarian medicine. The sources of articles reproduced by gracious permission have been duly acknowledged in the respective chapters. Bill Tucker and Khristine Queja of Springer Science are to be thanked for valuable editorial assistance. ix Contents The Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix Part I The Fundamentals: Human Rights and Health 1 The Right to Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 S. W. A. Gunn 2 Health and Human Rights—A Public Health Perspective . . . . . . . . . . 9 Gudjón Magnússon 3 Health for All or Hell for All? The Role of Leadership in Health Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Halfdan Mahler 4 The Declaration of Alma-Ata on Primary Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 International Conference on Primary Health Care 5 Health and Human Rights: In 25 Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . 25 Helena Nygren-Krug 6 Freedom from Fear for Human Well-being: The Need for Humanitarian Medicine in the Prevention of Torture and the Treatment of its Survivors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Jaap A. Walkate Part II Humanitarian Medicine 7 Humanitarian Medicine: A Vision and Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 M. Masellis and S.W.A. Gunn 8 Ethical Principles for Everyone in Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 C. Rollins Hanlon xi xii Contents 9 Quality of Life and Medical Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Radana Königová 10 Medical Contributors to Social Progress: A Significant Aspect of Humanitarian Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 William C. Gibson 11 Humanitarian Medicine Applied in a Highly Specialized Field: Cardiovascular Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Jan T. Christenson 12 Humanitarian Medicine for a Developing Country: Outreach to Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Paddy Dewan 13 Humanitarian Basic Plastic Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Bishara S. Atiyeh Part III International, UN and WHO Cooperation 14 Find New Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Kofi Annan 15 Health and Human Rights in International Legal Instruments . . . . . . 119 A WHO Compilation 16 The United Nations Today: Changes in Policies and Structures—The World Summit and UN Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Yves Beigbeder 17 The Critical News Stories You Never Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Shashi Tharoor 18 United Nations Humanitarian Action and the Role of Non-governmental Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Hanifa Mezoui 19 The UN Founding Fathers and Dr Chisholm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Sir Robert Jackson 20 Brock Chisholm—Doctor to the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 S.W.A. Gunn 21 The Language of International Humanitarian Action: A Brief Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 S. W. A. Gunn
The list of books you might like
