Public Health Ethics: Social Health Justice

Public health ethics involves a systematic process to clarify, prioritize and justify possible courses of public health action based on ethical principles, values and beliefs of stakeholders, and scientific and other information.

Social justice is defined as

• “justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society,” according to the New Oxford American Dictionary. Ensuring social justice is, therefore, one component to achieving health equity and maintaining public health ethics. 

According to Paula Braveman and Laura Gottlieb in a 2014 article in Public Health Reports:

• Social justice in health means no one is denied the possibility to be healthy for belonging to a group that has historically been economically/socially disadvantaged. Social justice in health is also considered as health equity. Health disparities are the metrics that are used to measure progress toward achieving health equity. A reduction in health disparities (in absolute and relative terms) is evidence that we are moving toward greater health equity and sustaining social justice in health. 

Importance of Social Justice in maintaining a Healthy Society

1. According to Aristotle, society's obligation to maintain and improve health rests on the ethical principle of “human flourishing” i.e. the ability to live a flourishing, and thus healthy, life.
2. It is important in allowing individuals to exercise a range of human rights – both civil and political (e.g. physical integrity, personal security, political participation), social and economic (e.g. employment, education and family life).
3. Health is necessary for well-functioning societies so is justice in health. If a population does not have a decent level of health, it is very difficult to ensure economic prosperity, political participation, collective security and so forth.
4. Social health justice gives special moral importance to health capability: an individual's opportunity to achieve good health and thus to be free from preventable morbidity and mortality.
5. When there is harmony in health and social justice, then health burden and problems are lessened with the reduction in health disparities.

Click health for Notes on Components of Social Justice in Health

Bibliography

1. https://www.cdc.gov/od/science/integrity/phethics/index.htm
2. http://www.who.int/healthsystems/topics/equity/en/
3. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/1/10-082388/en/
4. BENJAMIN, G.C. Health Equity and Social Justice: A Health Improvement Tool
5. Peter, F., Anand, S., Sen, A. “Public Health, Ethics, and Equity” (2004).
6. Ruger, Jennifer Prah. “Health and Social Justice.”(2004).