Disease as a Social Phenomenon

 

Known as the father of social medicine, Rudolf Virchow owes this title to his Upper Silesia Typhus Epidemic Report, where he elucidated the social-economic causes of diseases and deaths, in other words, explaining under which societal conditions morbidity and mortality arise (Virchow, [1848] 2006). Embracing Hegel's dialectical method in the analysis of health problems, Virchow presents a successful example of dialectical approach to biological and social issues in his report.

Master of the dialectical approach, Hegel, argued that life couldn't exist without disease; every organism is born with the "germ of death," and treatment sees disease not as the complete loss of health but rather as a conflict within or between physical forces.

However, Virchow, rejecting Hegelian idealism, embraced materialism. In his efforts to form a dialectical materialist approach in biology, he extensively utilized Friedrich Engels' work "The Condition of the Working Class in England" to demonstrate the relationship between poverty and disease (Engels, 1994).

Disease as a Malfunction of the Machine

 

The understanding of health and illness has evolved and changed throughout historical and societal development processes, reaching the present day. For thousands of years, humans perceived illnesses as "divine punishment" and sought solutions to health problems through offerings, sacrifices, magic, and prayers. During periods when the influence of religion/metaphysics on societal life relatively weakened and rationality began to strengthen, science became dominant in medicine, and health issues began to be associated with earthly causes.

By the nineteenth century, the monumental advancements in science and technology completely transformed traditional medicine and the understanding of health. The discovery of the microscope made infectious agents visible, and new models explaining health problems began to be developed (von Engelhardt, 1999: 1 – 7).

Disease as a Divine Punishment

As human societies evolved from primitive classless communities where health knowledge production and utilization were for everyone and by everyone, towards class-based societies where medicine entered the service of the ruling class, the first stop was shamanic communities. With the ability of human societies to produce more than they consumed over historical periods, those who seized this surplus became dominant and enslaved others.

Halk sağlığında gündem

 

Son aylarda Türkiye’de siyasetin yerel seçimlere kilitlenmesi nedeniyle “halk sağlığı” gündemini biraz ihmal ettik. Bu yazımızda halk sağlığı alanında yayınlanan önemli makaleleri değerlendirerek gündemi yeniden yakalamaya çalışacağız.

Emekliler ektiklerini mi biçiyor?

 

Bugün Türkiye’de ayda 10 bin TL maaşa ya da “açlığa” mahkum emekliler, emekçiler içinde “en alttakileri” oluşturuyor. Aslında emekçiler arasında en alttakileri asgari ücretlilerin oluşturacağı düşünülür, fakat Türkiye’de emekli maaşları asgari ücretin çok altına düştü.

Peki bu nasıl oldu? Geçmişte ikramiyeleri ile başlarını sokabilecekleri mütevazı bir ev dahi alabilen ve aldıkları maaşla kimseye muhtaç olmadan geçinebilen emekliler nasıl bu hale düştü? Emekliler bugün, 1990 – 2010 döneminde çalışırlarken ektiklerini biçiyor olabilirler mi?