Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
In recent years, the global health community has increasingly reported the problem of ‘invisibility’: aspects of health and wellbeing, particularly amongst the world’s most marginalized and impoverished people, that are systematically overlooked and ignored by people and institutions in relative pos...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wellcome
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Wellcome Open Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/8-191/v2 |
| _version_ | 1827365791106859008 |
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| author | Chelsea Modlin Shu Hui Ng Jonathan D. Shaffer Patricia Kingori Michael Parker Arsenii Alenichev Ilana Ambrogi Marlyn C. Faure Halina Suwalowska |
| author_facet | Chelsea Modlin Shu Hui Ng Jonathan D. Shaffer Patricia Kingori Michael Parker Arsenii Alenichev Ilana Ambrogi Marlyn C. Faure Halina Suwalowska |
| author_sort | Chelsea Modlin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent years, the global health community has increasingly reported the problem of ‘invisibility’: aspects of health and wellbeing, particularly amongst the world’s most marginalized and impoverished people, that are systematically overlooked and ignored by people and institutions in relative positions of power. It is unclear how to realistically manage global health invisibility within bioethics and other social science disciplines and move forward. In this letter, we reflect on several case studies of invisibility experienced by people in Brazil, Malaysia, West Africa and other transnational contexts. Highlighting the complex nature of invisibility and its interconnectedness with social, political and economic issues and trends, we argue that while local and targeted interventions might provide relief and comfort locally, they will not be able to solve the underlying causes of invisibility. Building from the shared lessons of case study presentations at an Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Ethics Collaborative (GLIDE), we argue that in dealing with an intersectional issue such as invisibility, twenty-first century global health bioethics could pursue a more ‘disturbing’ framework, challenging the narrow comforting solutions which take as a given the sociomaterial inequalities of the status quo. We highlight that comforting and disturbing bioethical frameworks should not be considered as opposing sides, but as two approaches working in tandem in order to achieve the internationally set global health milestones of providing better health and wellbeing for everyone. Insights from sociology, anthropology, postcolonial studies, history, feminist studies and other styles of critical reasoning have long been disturbing to grand narratives of people and their conditions. To rediscover the ethos of the WHO Alma Ata Declaration—a vision of “health for all by the year 2000”—these thinking tools will be necessary aids in developing cooperation and support beyond the narrow market logic that dominates the landscape of contemporary global health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T08:36:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb04867cc09f400b89d35b712bcd7d83 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-502X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T08:36:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Wellcome |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wellcome Open Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb04867cc09f400b89d35b712bcd7d832024-02-02T01:00:00ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2023-12-01822780Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]Chelsea Modlin0Shu Hui Ng1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0439-4903Jonathan D. Shaffer2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8933-6915Patricia Kingori3Michael Parker4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7054-4711Arsenii Alenichev5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4099-8955Ilana Ambrogi6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2886-4284Marlyn C. Faure7Halina Suwalowska8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4039-094XBerman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USAMonash University, Subang Jaya, Selangor, 45700, MalaysiaDepartment of Sociology, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, 05405, USAEthox Centre, Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, OX3 7LF, UKEthox Centre, Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, OX3 7LF, UKEthox Centre, Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, OX3 7LF, UKInstitute of Bioethics, Human Rights and Gender (ANIS), Brasilia, 70.094-971, BrazilThe Ethics Lab, Department of Medicine and Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7935, South AfricaEthox Centre, Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, OX3 7LF, UKIn recent years, the global health community has increasingly reported the problem of ‘invisibility’: aspects of health and wellbeing, particularly amongst the world’s most marginalized and impoverished people, that are systematically overlooked and ignored by people and institutions in relative positions of power. It is unclear how to realistically manage global health invisibility within bioethics and other social science disciplines and move forward. In this letter, we reflect on several case studies of invisibility experienced by people in Brazil, Malaysia, West Africa and other transnational contexts. Highlighting the complex nature of invisibility and its interconnectedness with social, political and economic issues and trends, we argue that while local and targeted interventions might provide relief and comfort locally, they will not be able to solve the underlying causes of invisibility. Building from the shared lessons of case study presentations at an Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Ethics Collaborative (GLIDE), we argue that in dealing with an intersectional issue such as invisibility, twenty-first century global health bioethics could pursue a more ‘disturbing’ framework, challenging the narrow comforting solutions which take as a given the sociomaterial inequalities of the status quo. We highlight that comforting and disturbing bioethical frameworks should not be considered as opposing sides, but as two approaches working in tandem in order to achieve the internationally set global health milestones of providing better health and wellbeing for everyone. Insights from sociology, anthropology, postcolonial studies, history, feminist studies and other styles of critical reasoning have long been disturbing to grand narratives of people and their conditions. To rediscover the ethos of the WHO Alma Ata Declaration—a vision of “health for all by the year 2000”—these thinking tools will be necessary aids in developing cooperation and support beyond the narrow market logic that dominates the landscape of contemporary global health.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/8-191/v2global health bioethics invisibility inequality decolonizationeng |
| spellingShingle | Chelsea Modlin Shu Hui Ng Jonathan D. Shaffer Patricia Kingori Michael Parker Arsenii Alenichev Ilana Ambrogi Marlyn C. Faure Halina Suwalowska Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] Wellcome Open Research global health bioethics invisibility inequality decolonization eng |
| title | Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_full | Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_fullStr | Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_short | Invisibility in global health: A case for disturbing bioethical frameworks [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_sort | invisibility in global health a case for disturbing bioethical frameworks version 2 peer review 2 approved 1 approved with reservations |
| topic | global health bioethics invisibility inequality decolonization eng |
| url | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/8-191/v2 |
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