Benatar S R
Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory, South Africa.
Am J Public Health. 1998 Feb;88(2):295-300. doi: 10.2105/ajph.88.2.295.
Widening disparities in health and human rights at a global level represent the dark side of progress associated with escalation of economic and military exploitation and exponential population growth in the 20th century. Even the most basic universal human rights cannot be achieved for all under these circumstances. The goal of improved population health will be similarly elusive while medical care is commodified and exploited for commercial gain in the marketplace. Recognition of the powerful forces that polarize our world and commitment to reversing them are essential for the achievement of human rights for all, for the improvement of public health, and for the peaceful progress required to protect the "rational self-interest" of the most privileged people on earth against the escalation of war, disease, and other destructive forces arising from widespread poverty and ecological degradation.
全球范围内健康与人权差距不断扩大，这是20世纪经济和军事剥削升级以及人口呈指数增长所带来的进步的阴暗面。在这种情况下，即使是最基本的普遍人权也无法惠及所有人。当医疗服务在市场上被商品化并用于商业获利时，改善人口健康的目标同样难以实现。认识到那些使我们的世界两极分化的强大力量，并致力于扭转这些力量，对于实现所有人的人权、改善公共卫生以及实现和平进步至关重要，这种和平进步能保护地球上最特权阶层的“合理自身利益”，使其免受因普遍贫困和生态退化引发的战争、疾病及其他破坏力升级的影响。
