The poorest parts of the world are by and large the places in which one can best view the worst of medicine and not because doctors in these countries have different ideas about what constitutes modern medicine. It's the system and its limitations that are to blame.

...In a world riven by inequity, medicine could be viewed as social justice work.

I critique market-based medicine not because I haven't seen its heights but because I've seen its depths.

But as for activism, my parents did what they could, given the constraints, but were never involved in the causes I think of when I think of activists.

It is very expensive to give bad medical care to poor people in a rich country.

The essence of global health equity is the idea that something so precious as health might be viewed as a right.

If you look just at the decades after 1934, you know it's hard to point to really inspired and positive support from outside of Haiti, to Haiti, and much easier to point to either small-minded or downright mean-spirited policies.