School of Public Policy 590STJ - Health Inequities/Global South

Despite significant advances in medical knowledge and profession in the global south, health care continues to present inequality, discrimination, and inaccessibility to a large majority of people. Global south has been witnessing a drastic shift towards privatization, deregulation of health markets, cutbacks in the state health programs, reduced barriers to capital flight and massive amounts of resource extraction and land grabbing by small elites since 1990s. Given this scenario, the course will engage with some of the questions pertaining to equity and access in health care such as: What are the imperatives for the state in its obligations to ensure universal access to health care? How do social hierarchies and social relations in terms of caste, class and gender influence health care institutions and professional networks in the delivery of services? What are the implications of rising clinical trials and pharmaceuticals in terms of cost, exclusions and ethical questions? What is the critical role for communities in the health care system today? Why do landless, the self-employed, the displaced, women, tribal and other marginalized communities have less access to health services?