Philanthropic Foundations and the Globalization of Scientific Medicine and Public Health

by Benjamin Page, David Valone

Overview

This work resulted from a conference held in 2003 that was jointly sponsored by the Rockefeller Archive Center and Quinnipiac University. Drawing upon perspectives from history, philosophy, and the social sciences, as well as public health and medicine, the authors in this volume examine and critique the role of Foundations, most prominently the Rockefeller Foundation, in promoting and expanding the development of Western medicine around the world during the 20th century. The first half of the book examines the historical involvement of philanthropic foundations in public heath, basic medical research, and related social and political issues. These studies range from an examination of the Rockefeller's Foundation's anti-malaria campaigns to the involvement of Foundations in promoting eugenic ideology and population control. The second half of the book considers current situations in which philanthropic foundations are active in promoting public health and westernized medicine, including consideration of the fight against AIDS in Africa, the resurgence of tuberculosis as a major public health threat, and the ongoing war against malaria. Finally, the book concludes with thoughts on the future of health, disease, and public health by Peter C. Goldmark, Jr., a former president of the Rockefeller Foundation. By considering issues of public health and health policy from a wide range of perspectives, this book seeks to contribute both to our understanding of the past successes and failures of growing dominance of Westernized medicine over global health, and to consider present and future possibilities for improving the delivery of health services to the population of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761838197
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	05/11/2007
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	6.07(w) x 9.05(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Benjamin B. Page earned his Ph.D. in Social Philosophy at Florida State University. He also earned a post-doctoral M.S. in Urban and Regional Health Planning. His interest in the work of the Rockefeller Foundation in globalizing "scientific" medicine and public health emerged during a year (1975-6) spent in Czechoslovakia studying Biomedical Ethics in the context of a socialist economic system. Professor Page has continued to work in both Philosophy and Health Planning during the years he has taught at Quinnipiac University, and has published articles about the RF in Czechoslovakia in both English-language and Czech journals. David A. Valone is currently an assistant professor of history at Quinnipiac University, and holds degrees from Princeton University and the University of Chicago. He previously worked on the staff of the Institute Archives of the California Institute of Technology, where he processed the archival records of the Human Betterment Foundation. His areas of research include nineteenth century British and Irish history as well as the history of science and medicine. His published works include Ireland's Great Hunger: Silence, Memory and Commemoration co-edited with Christine Kinealy, and numerous articles.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Evaluation and Accountability: with a case study of the Early Rockefeller Foundation
Chapter 3 The Rockefeller Foundation's 1925 Malaria Film: A Case Study in Early Public Health Filmmaking
Chapter 4 Foundations, Eugenic Sterilization, and the Emergence of the World Population Control Movement
Chapter 5 Selskar Gunn and Paul Russell of the Rockefeller Foundation: A Contrast in Styles
Chapter 6 Globalizing Primary Care: Rockefeller Philanthropy and the Development of Community-Based Approach to Public Health in Sri Lanka: What Can We Learn?
Chapter 7 Of Mice, Vaccines and Men: The Yellow Fever Research Program of the Rockefeller Foundation in Colombia, 1932-1948
Chapter 8 "Working through government" and "working in close co-operation with government": A Perspective on the Rockefeller Public Health Program in Colonial India
Chapter 9 Community Based Primary Health CareEmpowerment and Equity
Chapter 10 The Need for Diversity in Models of Medicine
Chapter 11 Agenda-Setting Diseases
Chapter 12 System Reform - Seeking the Holy Grail
Chapter 13 FBO Field Perspectives on Sustainable Healthcare
Chapter 14 Malaria and International Health Organizations
Chapter 15 Obligations and Accountability in International Public Health: State and Non-State Actors
Chapter 16 Racing Against the Global Industrial Hangover - Thoughts on Surviving the Morning After
Part 17 Index