Empire, Health, and Health Care: Perspectives at the End of Empire as We Have Known It

Health and health care have played important roles during the rise of empire and during its subsequent decline. Research has emphasized the underdevelopment of health in less developed countries, the opening of new markets for medical products manufactured in dominant nations, the contribution of public health in enhancing the productivity of labor, the impact of medicine in reinforcing international class relations, and the adverse effects of military interventions on health and mental health. Latin American social medicine, especially work by Salvador Allende, has clarified the social origins of illness and early death in the context of empire. Connections among empire, health, and health care have operated through key mediating institutions: trade agreements and international financial institutions, foundations, and international public health organizations. Several popular struggles show a diminishing tolerance among the world's peoples for the health policies of empire and a growing demand for health systems grounded in solidarity rather than profitability.