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A major earthquake of 7.0 magnitude hit Haiti yesterday just ten miles outside of Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital. The quake centered on one of the most densely populated areas of one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, knocking out telephone communications, causing the collapse of buildings and homes, and potentially killing thousands of people and injuring tens of thousands more. The extent of the devastation is still unknown,…

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In India, a woman enters a village health center and accesses a web page for information on how to better care for her baby. In Boston, a doctor at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), one of the world’s most elite hospitals, pulls up the UpToDate website — an online medical information resource used by many clinicians to stay current with the latest clinical advances and practices — for information…

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Ugandan legislators recently released the latest version of a controversial HIV/AIDS bill that “promotes dangerous and discredited approaches to the AIDS epidemic,” according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). In a response report published by HRW and endorsed by more than 50 organizations and individuals, HRW criticizes Uganda’s proposed HIV Prevention and Control Bill for the repressive nature of several new clauses while pointing out some of its more agreeable aspects.…

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During his speech on World AIDS Day, South African President Jacob Zuma promised to ramp up HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs for children and high-risk groups. The new plan calls for treating all HIV-infected babies in a country whose child mortality rate has risen since 1990. “Our message is simple,” President Zuma said, “we have to stop the spread of HIV. We must reduce the rate of new infections. Prevention…

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In his recent report for the United Nations General Assembly, Special Rapporteur Anand Grover emphasizes that informed consent should be a fundamental practice in a rights-based approach to health. He describes informed consent as “not mere acceptance of medical intervention, but a voluntary and sufficiently informed decision, protecting the right of the patient to be involved in medical decision-making, and assigning associated duties and obligations to health-care providers. Its ethical…

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Many prisoners living with HIV are denied access to adequate antiretroviral drugs, leaving them susceptible to opportunistic infections. Recently, prisoners have increasingly demanded HIV treatment. In 2006, South African inmates launched a hunger strike, demanding that the government provide antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for infected prisoners. In response, Judge Thumba Pillay of the High Court ordered the Department of Correctional Services to adopt a comprehensive HIV/AIDS plan for prisons throughout South…

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[Editor’s note: This is a guest post written by Sarah Mi Ra Dougherty.] In a recent opinion piece in the Financial Times, William Easterly argued that a rights-based approach to health care would favor the agendas of the rich and powerful, leaving the poor to die of neglected diseases. He then contends that holding ourselves to such unrealistically high standards would open the floodgates for unchecked spending, “since any of…

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More than 500,000 women die each year from preventable complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. The World Health Organization describes the main causes of maternal mortality and morbidity as “unavailable, inaccessible, unaffordable, or poor quality” medical treatment and care. More than 70% of maternal deaths are caused by five complications: hemorrhage (25%), infection (15%), unsafe abortion (13%), eclampsia (seizures caused by high blood pressure – 12%), and obstructed labor (8%).…

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Access to an adequate amount of clean water is an integral part of maintaining good health. Unfortunately for the residents of Phiri, Soweto — a low-income community in Johannesburg developed and relegated to black Africans during Apartheid — a ruling made by the South Africa Constitutional Court in a high-profile right-to-water case may limit access to this valuable resource. The case pitted five impoverished residents of Phiri (the “applicants”) against…

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The latest CIA Inspector General’s May 2004 Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities Report, released to the public on August 24, 2009, describes previously unknown or unconfirmed interrogation practices performed by the CIA and colluding health professionals. The report highlights the role of the physicians and psychologists who advised and monitored — and thus legitimized — the controversial interrogation methods carried out in support of counterterrorism. The illegal and unethical practices,…

Continue reading “Complicit and culpable: The role of health professionals in CIA torture activities”