Unhealthy Health Policy A Critical Anthropological Examination

by Castro, Arachu; Singer, Merrill; Abadia-Barrero, Cesar E.; Armada, Francisco; Baer, Hans A.; Bliss, Katherine Elaine; Bourgois, Philippe; Buchanan, David; Chaufan, Claudia; Davis-Floyd, Robbie E.; Desclaux, Alice; Farmer, Paul; Fassin, Didier; Horton, Sar

• ISBN13: 9780759105119
• ISBN10: 0759105111
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-09
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

This new collection turns a critical anthropological eye on the nature of health policy internationally. The authors reveal the prevailing social inequalities that often represent significant threats to the health and well being of the poor, ethnic minorities, and women. The authors define an anthropology of policy concerned with decision-making and the impact of health policy on human lives. It will be a critical resource for researchers and practitioners in medical anthropology, medical sociology, public policy, and public health care. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Author Biography

Cesar E. Abadia-Barrero, D.M.D., D.M.Sc., For the academic year 2003-2004, he holds appointments as a postdoctoral research fellow at both the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School Francisco Armada, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, is a health officer at the Ministry of Health in Venezuela Hans A. Baer, Ph.D., is professor of anthropology and sociology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Katherine E. Bliss, Ph.D., is associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Philippe Bourgois, Ph.D., is a cultural anthropologist who is professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology, History, and Social Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco David Buchanan, DrPH, is a full professor of community health education at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Arachu Castro, Ph.D., MPH, is instructor in medical anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School Claudia Chaufan, M.D., is a medical doctor specialized in diabetes and obesity, a diabetes educator, and a medical writer from Buenos Aires, Argentina Robbie Davis-Floyd, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow at the Department of Anthropology, University of Texas Austin Alice Desclaux, M.D., Ph.D. after some years of practice in public health, turned to medical anthropology, starting with a Ph.D. on the social treatment of AIDS in children by the health system in Burkina Faso. Since 1993, she has been working on AIDS mainly in Africa Paul Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., has worked in infectious-disease control in the Americas for nearly two decades. He is the founding director of Partners In Health Didier Fassin, M.D., Ph.D., is a sociologist, anthropologist, and medical doctor Robert Heimer, Ph.D., is the director of the Yale Emerging Infections Program Sarah Horton, Ph.D., received her Ph.D. joined the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow in the fall of 2003 Kristen Jacklin, M.A., is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University Salmaan Keshavjee, M.D., Ph.D., is a researcher in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, and the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston Kaveh Khoshnood, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Yale School of Public Health, an investigator at the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA) Catherine Hodge McCoid is a professor of anthropology who has taught at Central Missouri State University since 1971 Carles Muntaner, M.D., Ph.D., a native of Barcelona, Spain, is professor at the Department of Family and Community Health, University of Maryland; the Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health; and the University of Toronto's Institute for Work and Health Joan E. Paluzzi, Ph.D., R.N., is a medical anthropologist James Pfeiffer, Ph.D., MPH, is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio Imrana Qadeer, Ph.D., is a professor of Public Health at the Center of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Susan Shaw, Ph.D., was an ethnographer on the Syringe Access, Use, and Discard (SAUD) project and now works for the Hispanic Health Council Merrill Singer, Ph.D., is the associate director of the Hispanic Health Council (HHC) and director of the HHC's Center for Community Health Research in Hartford, Connecticut Tom Stopka, MHS, is a research scientist with the HIV Prevention Research and Evaluation Section of the California State Office of AIDS in Sacramento Wei Teng, Ph.D., is now a senior statistical analyst at Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale New Haven Health System, New Haven, Connecticut Graham A. Tobin, Ph.D. is professor of geography at the University of South Florida (USF) Fouzieyha Towghi, MPH, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology, History, and Social Medicine with the joint program of medical anthropology at the Universities of California in San Francisco and in Berkeley Nalini Visvanathan, Ph.D., MPH, is on the faculty of the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts Boston William G. Wagner, M.A., is affiliated with the Anthropology Department at the University of New Mexico and is currently completing his dissertation Howard Waitzkin, M.D., Ph.D., is professor of Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Sociology at the University of New Mexico Wayne Warry, Ph.D., is an applied medical anthropologist and associate professor, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University Linda Whiteford, Ph.D., MPH, is a professor of anthropology and chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of South Florida (USF) Cathleen E. Willging, Ph.D., is a scientist at the Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest and teaches in the Masters of Public Health Program at the University of New Mexico

Table of Contents

Introduction Anthropology and Health Policy: A Critical Perspective	xi
Merrill Singer
Arachu Castro
I. International Institutions and the Setting of Health Policies
Pearls of the Antilles? Public Health in Haiti and Cuba	3	(26)
Paul Farmer
Arachu Castro
The Visible Fist of the Market: Health Reforms in Latin America	29	(14)
Francisco Armada
Carles Muntaner
International NGOs in the Mozambique Health Sector: The ``Velvet Glove'' of Privatization	43	(20)
James Pfeiffer
Primary Health Care since Alma Ata: Lost in the Bretton Woods?	63	(16)
Joan E. Paluzzi
Shifting Policies toward Traditional Midwives: Implications for Reproductive Health Care in Pakistan	79	(18)
Fouzieyha Towghi
The Contradictions of a Revolving Drug Fund in Post-Soviet Tajikistan: Selling Medicines to Starving Patients	97	(18)
Salmaan Keshavjee
Equity in Access to AIDS Treatment in Africa: Pitfalls among Achievements	115	(18)
Alice Desclaux
Contracepting at Childbirth: The Integration of Reproductive Health and Population Policies in Mexico	133	(12)
Arachu Castro
How Healthy Are Health and Population Policies? The Indian Experience	145	(18)
Imrana Qadeer
Nalini Visvanathan
II. National Health Policies and Social Exclusion
Happy Children with AIDS: The Paradox of a Healthy National Program in an Unequal and Exclusionary Brazil	163	(14)
Cesar E. Abadia-Barrero
Between Risk and Confession: The Popularization of Syphilis Prophylaxis in Revolutionary Mexico	177	(12)
Katherine Elaine Bliss
Saving Lives, Destroying Livelihoods: Emergency Evacuation and Resettlement Policies in Ecuador	189	(14)
Linda M. Whiteford
Graham A. Tobin
Social Illegitimacy as a Foundation of Health Inequality: How the Political Treatment of Immigrants Illuminates a French Paradox	203	(12)
Didier Fassin
The Indian Health Transfer Policy in Canada: Toward Self-Determination or Cost Containment?	215	(20)
Kristen M. Jacklin
Wayne Warry
Land and Rural New Mexican Hispanics' Mistrust of Federal Programs: The Unintended Consequences of Medicaid Eligibility Rules	235	(12)
Sarah Horton
The Death and Resurrection of Medicaid Managed Care for Mental Health Services in New Mexico	247	(10)
Cathleen Willging
Howard Waitzkin
William Wagner
Sugar Blues: A Social Anatomy of the Diabetes Epidemic in the United States	257	(18)
Claudia Chaufan
Syringe Access, HIV Risk, and AIDS in Massachusetts and Connecticut: The Health Implications of Public Policy	275	(12)
David Buchanan
Merrill Singer
Susan Shaw
Wei Teng
Tom Stopka
Kaveh Khoshnood
Robert Heimer
Why Is It Easier to Get Drugs than Drug Treatment in the United States?	287	(16)
Merrill Singer
U.S. Inner-City Apartheid and the War on Drugs: Crack among Homeless Heroin Addicts	303	(14)
Philippe Bourgois
III. Impact of Policy on the Practice of Medicine
U.S. Health Policy on Alternative Medicine: A Case Study in the Co-optation of a Popular Movement	317	(12)
Hans A. Baer
Home Birth Emergencies in the United States: The Trouble with Transport	329	(22)
Robbie E. Davis-Floyd
Why Is Prevention Not the Focus for Breast Cancer Policy in the Unites States Rather than High-Tech Medical Solutions?	351	(12)
Cathy Hodge Mccoid
Index	363	(12)
About the Editors and Contributors	375