Dr. Paul Farmer is a physician and medical anthropologist who has dedicated his life to developing community-based treatment in countries that have extremely limited resources. He is the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University and an attending physician and Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. In 1983, while still a student, he began his lifelong commitment to improving the health of the world’s poorest people starting in Haiti’s Central Plateau. In 1987, Dr. Farmer co-founded Partners in Health (PIH) which focused on the Central Plateau of Haiti but now PIH has developed in to a worldwide health organization. Dr. Farmer is a leader and has all the skills and characteristics that a leader requires such as integrity, vision, communication and relationships, adaptability, thorough planning, and good decision-making. …show more content…
Farmer’s integrity and vision it comes down to one saying, “O for the P,” short for “to provide a preferential option for the poor.” The author, Tracy Kidder, summarized this as Dr. Farmer’s goal in life. Early on in his time in Haiti, Dr. Farmer found that the hospitals were not for the poor and that they expected payment in advance which had taken him aback. To this effect Dr. Farmer said, “I’m going to build my own fucking hospital. And there’ll be none of that there, thank you [81]. When it comes to Dr. Farmer’s integrity I think of the Parable of the Sadhu. Dr. Farmer would not only stop to help the sadhu, but would have tried to inspire his companions to guarantee the man’s safety, and if that did not work he would have got the man to safety himself. Finally, he would figure out how to do follow-ups through email or phone call to check in with the
“Hospitals today are growing into mighty edifices in brick, stone, glass and marble. Many of them maintain large staffs, they use the best equipment that science can devise, they utilize the most modern methods in devoting themselves to the noblest purpose of man, that of helping’s one’s stricken brother. But they do all this on a business basis, submitting invoices for services rendered.”
Angell, Marcia. "The Ethics of Clinical Research in the Third World." New England Journal of Medicine. 337.12 847-849. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
Paul Farmer was born in Massachusetts in 1959, went to Harvard Medical School, became a doctor, and ended up living and working in Haiti. He co-founded an organization in 1987 called Partners in Health (PIH). The philosophy behind the organization is that everyone, no matter who or where has a right to health care. Paul Farmer and PIH have already made amazing progress in Haiti, Peru, and several other countries, helping people get the care they need. PIH’s website lists a detailed history of they and Farmer’s work in Haiti. When Paul Farmer first came to Cange, Haiti as a medical student in 1983, the place was in shambles. In 1956, a dam was built on the Artibonite River, flooding the village and forcing the residents to move up into the hills. Many of these displaced villagers were still essentially homeless after nearly thirty years, and had little access to quality health care. With the founding of the Zanmi Lasante clinic later in 1983, Farmer and his friend Ophelia Dahl set the people of Cange on the road to recovery by providing access to doctors, medicine, and emergency care, all completely free. (“Partners”) One of Farmer’s focuses was on tuberculosis (TB) and has had much success on this front. Through new studies and methods such as active case finding and community health workers, as well as his work with multidrug-resistant TB, Paul Farmer has revolutionized treatment of tuberculosis in Haiti and around the world.
In his book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder reports the journey of Dr. Paul Farmer in providing health care for everyone including those that cannot afford it. At one point, Farmer is not in Haiti and must entrust the care of a patient, John, to one of his workers, Serena Koenig. Farmer left important decisions up to Koenig despite not having as much experience; Koenig is able to obtain treatment for John in Boston where he passes away (Kidder 2003). Had Farmer not trusted Koenig enough to deal with John, it is possible that he would have passed away suffering to the very last moments of his life. In situations where a health care professional is away, he or she must entrust colleagues with the care of the patients. After the situation with John, Kidder confronts Farmer on whether or not Koenig had made the correct decision to spend resources on easing the death of a patient. Farmer responds that he has, “fought the long defeat and brought other people on to fight the long defeat” (p. 288). Farmer attempts to convince that fighting for patients no matter the cost is the essential belief of Partners in Health. In this case, Kidder began to mistrust that Farmer was making the most logical decisions, so Farmer clarified his beliefs in providing health care. Clearly, Farmer is evidence that fellow team members in the health profession will not completely trust one another. However, by placing faith in one another, doctor’s can work as a team to treat patients like
Farmer’s amazing outlook exemplifies this highly ethical characteristic of being a hero. In the biography, “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” It is made clear that he believes that it is still imperative that we always do what we can to at least attempt to save, or improve, lives. “In his mind, he was fighting all poverty all the time, an endeavor full of difficulties and inevitable failures.” (Singer, 210) Paul Farmer’s devotion to people in need is extremely admirable and is an ethical trait that he exhibits in all aspects of his life, but we can’t all be as saint like as Paul Farmer. As a Harvard doctor, Paul Farmer is, in a way, more capable of saving lives with the use of medical care than most people are. A simple and small contribution such as $200, or the equivalent to the cost of a pair of shoes, is much less effective than a direct contribution of highly expensive medical supplies and supplements. Singer’s analogy does not succeed in showing that the shallow pond case and the charity case are ethically similar, because the two scenarios have unequal costs, impacts, and outcomes. Not all charities are truly life-saving, but pulling a child out of a pond and into safety is. Although we should all do what we can to help others and essentially “cure the world,” we cannot judge one’s ethical character poorly if they do not donate
Margaret Chan has previously been involved in the health field for many years before becoming appointed as general director at WHO. Before beginning her transition into health, Chan was a trained Home Economics teacher in Hong Kong, where she was originally born. After teaching, Chan earned a bachelor’s degree in public health and a doctorate of medicine at the University of Western Ontario. After this, she went on to earn her masters of science in the field of Public Health at the national university of Singapore. In 1997, Chan was given the distinction for the Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom while also b...
My poster contains images that I used to give a very brief imagery of Dr. Paul Farmer’s life. In the center I put a large photo of him so someone could see his full facial appearance. I put the logos for Duke University and Harvard University to show where he went for his schooling. I put Duke’ logo on blue construction paper to represent the school’s blue colors, and I put Harvard’s logo on red construction paper for the same reason. I put a quote on the bottom-right of the poster, because I feel this quote represents a general mentality of Dr. Paul Farmer. I put two pictures of Farmer treating Haitian patients, because the majority of his life’s work is treating poor people in Haiti. I put the picture of Haitian hands holding a cross to represent the religious belief of Haitians. Many of Farmer’s patients had trouble
...nd usually the institutions and churches do not have the resources to provide a safety net for starving people. What we have found when working with the World Bank is that the poor man's safety net, the best investment, is school feeding. And if you fill the cup with local agriculture from small farmers, you have a transformative effect. Many kids in the world can't go to school because they have to go beg and find a meal. But when that food is there, it's transformative. It costs less than 25 cents a day to change a kid's life.” (Sheeran)
Dr. Paul Farmer in Mountains Beyond Mountains is a clear example of a selfless man. Dr. Paul Farmer has made it his mission to dedicate his life to helping the poor and desolate. His morals are sound in that he does not view sick people as objects or untouchables, but as humans deserving of care, compassion and fair and proper treatment, no matter their ability to pay. Dr. Farmer makes sacrifices and advocates for the poor throughout his journey, showing the rest of the world how one man can make a difference.
Together, they work to lower prices of medicine, find cures for new strains of TB, open new clinics worldwide, find fund donors such as Partners in Health and the Bill Gates Foundation, and speak at conferences to raise awareness of how impoverished places are plagued with diseases. Diseases like AIDS, HIV, and TB are easily curable if the patient lived in the United States, but since medical care is not as abundant in impoverished places and often more expensive, thousands of people that live in those places die unnecessarily. Farmer works tirelessly to help every single person he can, and he won’t rest until the day he dies. An ancient Haitian proverb says, “Beyond mountains there are mountains,” which means that when you had solved one problem, you couldn’t rest because you had to go on and solve the next. The proverb exceptionally represents Dr. Farmer’s mind-set and relationship with the world. Farmer constantly travels the world participating in clinics, conferences, and meetings, yet he always finds time to go to Haiti. Growing up without having a steady home, Farmer considers Haiti his
Studies had shown that, racial disparities, political and socioeconomic status are one of the most determinants of the use of preventive services. Whereas, public programs of international development agencies during this period were also targeting means of eradicating specific diseases such as malaria, cholera, yaws, smallpox, influenza, cancer and the like. After several years of investment in the vertical interventions, preventable diseases remained a major challenge. Therefore, the international health agencies including experts around the globe began examining other alternative approaches to health improvement which brought ‘’health for all’’ through World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to practioners and the global health planners at the International conference on primary health care in Alma Ata in Kazakhstan. Relative to this, the conference also intended to revolutionize and reform previous health
“The only real nation is humanity” (Farmer 123). This quote represents a huge message that is received in, Tracy Kidder’s, Mountains Beyond Mountains. This book argues that universal healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Kidder’s book also shows the audience that every individual, no matter what the circumstances, is entitled to receive quality health care. In the book Kidder represents, Paul Farmer, a man who spends his entire life determined to improve the health care of impoverished areas around the world, namely Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world. By doing this the audience learns of the horrible circumstances, and the lack of quality health care that nations like Haiti live with everyday, why every person has the right to healthcare no matter what, and how cost effectiveness should not determine whether or not these people get to live or die. Two texts that also argue this idea are Monte Leach’s “Ensuring Health Care as a Global Human Right,” and Darshak Sanghavi’s “Is it Cost Effective to Treat the World’s Poor.” Leach’s article is an interview with Benjamin Crème that illustrates why food, shelter, education, and healthcare are human rights that have to be available to everyone. He shares many of the same views on health care as Farmer, and the two also share similar solutions to this ongoing problem. Leach also talks about the rapidly growing aids epidemic, and how it must be stopped. Like farmer, he also argues that it is easier to prevent these diseases then to cure them. Furthermore, Sanghavi’s article represents many of the questions that people would ask about cost effectiveness. Yet similar to Farmer’s views, Sanghavi argues that letting the poor d...
As Paul Farmer pursues to bring health care to impoverished nations, he builds the health care systems, is able to provide services for ones living in poverty, and speaks about the improved health care system in Cuba. While watching Paul Farmer’s interview, he made it clear that giving impoverished nations health care will benefit them all. He says, “Is
London, England. The.. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine n.d., Session 5: The role of the state. in global health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, England. Ricci J.
Even though I initially started my journey in public health after graduating from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, I acknowledged my interest and enthusiasm when I was working on my research thesis during the final year of my college. I conducted a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of planned teaching program to control hypertension among adults residing in selected rural areas of Bangalore in India. It happened to be my first exposure to the field of public health where I had an opportunity to interact with Bangalore’s slum-dwellers and witness their lifestyle, their access to the basic needs such as water, sanitation, and essential nutrients which raised a serious concern on my mind. Upon completion of the research,