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An ethical and prudential argument for prioritizing the reduction of parasite-stress in the allocation of health care resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2012

Russell Powell ,
Steve Clarke  and
Julian Savulescu
Russell Powell
Affiliation:
Science and Religious Conflict Project, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Institute for Science and Ethics, Oxford Martin School and Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1-1PT, United Kingdom. russell.powell@philosophy.ox.ac.ukstephen.clarke@philosophy.ox.ac.ukjulian.savulescu@philosophy.ox.ac.ukhttp://www.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/staffhttp://www.src.ox.ac.uk/staff.htm
Steve Clarke
Affiliation:
Science and Religious Conflict Project, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Institute for Science and Ethics, Oxford Martin School and Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1-1PT, United Kingdom. russell.powell@philosophy.ox.ac.ukstephen.clarke@philosophy.ox.ac.ukjulian.savulescu@philosophy.ox.ac.ukhttp://www.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/staffhttp://www.src.ox.ac.uk/staff.htm
Julian Savulescu
Affiliation:
Science and Religious Conflict Project, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Institute for Science and Ethics, Oxford Martin School and Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1-1PT, United Kingdom. russell.powell@philosophy.ox.ac.ukstephen.clarke@philosophy.ox.ac.ukjulian.savulescu@philosophy.ox.ac.ukhttp://www.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/staffhttp://www.src.ox.ac.uk/staff.htm
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Abstract

The link between parasite-stress and complex psychological dispositions implies that the social, political, and economic benefits likely to flow from public health interventions that reduce rates of non-zoonotic infectious disease are far greater than have traditionally been thought. We sketch a prudential and ethical argument for increasing public health resources globally and redistributing these to focus on the alleviation of parasite-stress in human populations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 90 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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