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Communities, obligations and health-care
1University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria 61656.
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|January 1, 1987
Summary
A just community must provide a decent minimum of healthcare, viewing it as a fundamental right and obligation. This includes life-saving procedures, pain amelioration, and public health measures, with specifics determined by community consensus.
Area of Science:
- Bioethics
- Political Philosophy
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- Modern societies grapple with defining essential services for community members.
- The concept of a just community necessitates examining obligations beyond basic needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To argue that a just community has an obligation to provide a decent minimum of healthcare.
- To explore the philosophical underpinnings of healthcare as a right and community duty.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of health, justice, rights, and community.
- Examination of the 'natural lottery' and its implications for social obligations.
- Philosophical argumentation on duties of care within a community.
Main Results:
- Healthcare is presented as a fundamental obligation of a just community.
- A decent minimum of healthcare is defined by life-saving, pain-ameliorating, and preventative measures.
- The specific 'decent minimum' is subject to community-specific political determination.
Conclusions:
- A just community's ethical framework supports healthcare as a basic right.
- Duties of care and justice necessitate provision of essential health services.
- Community-defined political processes should determine the scope of minimal healthcare.