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Chapter 13 - The International Arms Trade and Global Health

from Section 3 - Analyzing Some Reasons for Poor Health and Responsibilities to Address Them

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2021

By
Jonathan Kennedy ,
David McCoy  and
Joseph Gafton
Edited by
Solomon Benatar  and
Gillian Brock
Solomon Benatar
Affiliation:
Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Cape Town
Gillian Brock
Affiliation:
Professor of Philosophy, University of Auckland
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Summary

War, armed conflict, and other forms of collective violence are incompatible with health, especially when we use the World Health Organization’s (WHO, 2006) conceptualization of health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, a fundamental human right, and the responsibility of the state. In addition to their obvious direct physical and psychological effects, wars, conflict, and collective violence damage health through a variety of indirect channels, including: the destruction of healthcare and undermining of the broader determinants of health by, for example, disrupting food, water, and sanitation systems; displacing large numbers of people; polluting and degrading the environment; and damaging the economy (Weinberg & Simmonds, 1995). There is an enormous opportunity cost.

Type
Chapter
Information
Global Health
Ethical Challenges
 , pp. 182 - 194
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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