Causes and health consequences of environmental degradation and social injustice

Author

Martin Donohoe

Social Science & Medicine, 2003, vol. 56, issue 3, pages 573-587

Abstract: Worldwide the greatest effects on the health of individuals and populations results from environmental degradation and social injustice, operating in consort. This paper describes the national and global causes and health consequences of these phenomena. Causes include overpopulation, pollution, deforestation, global warming, unsustainable agricultural and fishing practices, overconsumption, maldistribution of wealth, the rise of the corporation, the Third World debt crisis, and militarization and wars. Consequences include increased poverty, overcrowding, famine, weather extremes, species loss, acute and chronic medical illnesses, war and human rights abuses, and an increasingly unstable global situation that portends Malthusian chaos and disaster. Because of their scientific training, and due to their privileged socioeconomic status, physicians are in a unique position to recognize these phenomena and to act at all levels, from interactions with their patients, to volunteerism, to service and intervention in areas of great need, to direct political activism and involvement. Specific suggestions for action are discussed.

Keywords: Environmental; degradation; Social; injustice; Pollution; Poverty; Activism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations View citations in EconPapers (5) Track citations by RSS feed

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(02)00055-2
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:56:y:2003:i:3:p:573-587

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Series data maintained by Dana Niculescu (repec@elsevier.com).

For further details log on website :
http://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeesocmed/v_3a56_3ay_3a2003_3ai_3a3_3ap_3a573-587.htm