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Biomedical subjects

G Berlinguer

Publications and source records attributed to G Berlinguer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Population, ethics, and equity.

Demography is impregnated, more or less explicitly, with ethical contents. This is apparent in the words used to support data, which change over time (e.g., the term "illegitimate child" is no longer used). Ethical principles must be analyzed because demography concerns both public policies and individual choice. There is a conflict in this area between the idea of the ethical state, dictating personal behaviors to citizens, and that of decisions based on freedom, supported by three shared values: human rights, pluralism, and equity. This paper examines how these could be reinterpreted in the context of choices regarding population.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Globalization and global health.

Along with the positive or negative consequences of the globalization of health, we can consider global health as a goal, responding to human rights and to common interests. History tells us that after the "microbial unification" of the world, which began in 1492, over three centuries elapsed before the recognition of common risks and attempts to cope with them in a cross-boundary effort. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the struggle against epidemics united countries, world health became a common goal, and considerable results were achieved. However, in recent decades the notion of health as a cornerstone of economic development has been replaced by the idea that public health and health services are an obstacle to the wealth of nations. Meanwhile, new common threats are growing: among them, the exacerbation of old infections and emergence of new ones, the impact of environmental changes, drug traffic on a world scale, and destructive and self-destructive violence. New and stronger empirical motives relate the interests of peoples to universal rights and to global health. The author concludes with some proposals for policies.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed1999

[The right to treatment: priority or rationing?].

The distance that exists between what medicine can offer and the resources available in order to guarantee equal rights in health care continues to expand. It is therefore necessary to begin facing some difficult choices. These choices must include both the rationing of cost and fair distribution among its receivers. In what seems a step in the right direction, a particular change has been happening that points towards the decline of the importance of "monetary fundamentalism". The Amsterdam Treaty has placed the following principles on the task list of the European Union: 1) health (not just health care) must be a much higher priority in public policy; 2) the main factors of health care inequality are social and cultural (poverty, public health considered a simple element of the economy, medicine reduced to therapeutic technology); 3) health care resources must not be just a simple financial measure; 4) the choices to be made in order to achieve equal distribution of these resources should regard all citizens and not just experts. If these principles are applied in a practical manner, an alternative to rationing health care can primarily, even if not completely, be formulated.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Ethical problems in the relationship between health and work.

Throughout history, the relationship between employers and workers has been subject to the equilibrium of power, to legislative norms, to ethical considerations, and more recently to scientific knowledge. The authors examine the ethical conflicts that arise from the application of scientific knowledge to preventive health policies in the workplace. In particular, they discuss the ethical conflicts in the application of screening practices, in the setting of "allowable limits" of harmful work exposures, and in the right of workers to be informed about work hazards. Ethical problems are also created by conflicting interests in the protection of the environment, the health of the general public, and the health of the working population, and by conflicting interests among workers, and even within the individual worker, as in the case of "fetal protection" policies. The authors emphasize the positive use of scientific information and respect for human dignity in resolving these conflicts.

Behavior Control↗
PubMed1993

The interchange of disease and health between the Old and New Worlds.

A review of the five centuries since Columbus discovered America helps us understand the mutual contributions of the Old and the New Worlds to the history of diseases and their treatment. It also shows the consequences of this "mutual discovery" as they are currently emerging in the fields of health, culture, and the environment. To evaluate the multiple aspects of the interchange between the Old and New Worlds, this article discusses the following: the causes of the rapid decline of the original American populations; the diffusion of communicable diseases between the two civilizations; the health consequences of the nutritional changes on both sides of the Atlantic; drug addictions, as they developed through the centuries and as they exist today; the ways diseases were and are evaluated, prevented, diagnosed, and treated; and the mutual impact of different models of health services. Arguing that a major global change following the discovery of America was the transition from isolation of the two worlds to communication, and more recently, to global interdependence, the article also discusses some problems of bioethical relevance and the possible impact of new epidemics. Finally, it suggests that a critical analysis of the past may help stimulate future cooperation and solidarity.

Communicable Diseases↗
PubMed1992

The interchange of disease and health between the Old and New Worlds.

A review of the five centuries since Columbus discovered America helps us understand the mutual contributions of the Old and the New Worlds to the history of diseases and their treatment. It also shows the consequences of this "mutual discovery" as they are currently emerging in the fields of health, culture, and the environment. To evaluate the multiple aspects of the interchange between the Old and New Worlds, this paper discusses the following: the causes of the rapid decline of the original American populations; the diffusion of communicable diseases between the two civilizations; the health consequences of nutritional changes on both sides of the Atlantic; drug addictions, as they developed through the centuries and as they exist today; the ways diseases were and are evaluated, prevented, diagnosed, and treated; and the mutual impact of different models of health services. Arguing that a major global change following the discovery of America was the transition from isolation of the two worlds to communication, and, more recently, to global interdependence, the paper also discusses some problems of bioethical relevance and the possible impact of new epidemics. Finally, it suggests that a critical analysis of the past may help stimulate future cooperation and solidarity.

Americas↗
PubMed1992

The welfare state, class, and gender.

If we compare the welfare state countries with others, from the point of view of both health and health services, the crisis concerns primarily the second group of countries. Nevertheless, difficulties arise also for welfare state policies. The problem is how to respond to neoconservative attacks on social and health rights, and how to change the bureaucratic and medicalized bias of the welfare state. The "golden era" of social insurance and health services, conceived as free access to funds to cope with all the growing needs of the population, is over. Limitations, controls, and priorities have to be established. In Italy and similar countries, the tendency is toward restricting health care for those who have greater needs, cutting funds for prevention, and creating greater inequalities. It is clear that the state must intervene to reduce social inequalities, but at the same time some existing differences (sexual, cultural, ethnic) have an intrinsic value that must be recognized. A policy of free-choice welfare is useful, and has nothing to do with the selective measures that are being introduced. Moreover, a key point has become the relationship between class and gender. The working class continues to be exploited, but new phenomena arise, connected with production and social reproduction and not limited to this sphere. It is true that gender includes social classes, but no social class may represent both sexes, or different ethnic groups, or gender itself.

Female↗
PubMed1991

[Parasitoses and development: malaria and echinococcosis].

After having placed emphasis on the cyclic oscillations characterizing the interest of the scientific and political world for parasitology, the author analyzes the various standpoints from which parasitic diseases, and above all malaria, have been dealt with ever since the beginning of this century. Specific criticism is addressed to the military model, which has provided the basis for many eradication campaigns. The author also analyzes the "vicious circle theory", which labelled the activity of the WHO in its first decade of life, and which assumed that breaking the disease and underdevelopment circle was possible by acting mainly or even exclusively on endemic and debilitating diseases. Both these models were tested with success in Sardinia with the 1947-49 antimalaria campaign. However, socio-economic development of the island did not occur as expected, and attempts to export the same approaches to other parts of the world soon disclosed their limitations, leading to major failures. The experience on the fight against echinococcosis is subsequently examined. The conclusions drawn are that many successes may be obtained through a systemic rather than a sectorial approach; and that a "conflicting cohabitation" with diseases is foreseen as a long-lasting reality, and must thus be controlled with the appropriate means.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed1990

[Not Available].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Cholera↗
PubMed1987

Recent developments in occupational health policy in Italy.

On two occasions in the past, Italy has been in a leading position regarding occupational health: in 1700, thanks to work carried out by Dr. B. Ramazzini, and at the beginning of this century, with the founding of the first "Clinica del Lavoro" in Milan. Experience with and considerations of the interaction between the workplace, society as a whole, and the various institutions in the field of occupational health have played an important role in the general political discussion since the 1960s. In this article, we describe the effects of the workers' model of inquiry into health hazards on work organization, the National Health Service, workers' health conditions, and the scientific milieu. We also provide an analysis of present conditions and difficulties, particularly with regard to environmental problems and perspectives.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1981

Life-styles and health: alternative patterns.

The life-styles of Europe now stand trial. There is a risk of advocating a rejection of technology on the basis of the drop in human life expectancy, alternations in biorhythms, and the phenomenon of alienation. While health organizations could serve as springboards for change in morbific social relations, their main contribution has been to the growth of health consumption. The experience of the working class in Italy in safeguarding health and changing environmental conditions is analyzed. In spite of its difficulties, this experience can provide insight on social systems and point the way toward future progress.

Environmental Health↗