Social Justice

New Resources

• The Social Responsibility of Health Workers
• Achieving Equity: from Root Causes to Fair Outcomes
• The Health Consequences of the Diversion of Resources to War and Preparation for War
• Las consecuensas en salud de la desviacion de recursos hacia la guerra y su preparacion
• Social Justice as a PSR Issue Over the Past Half-Century

Introduction

Guided by the values and expertise of medicine and public health, PSR seeks to protect human life worldwide from the impact of social injustice and structural violence.  The root causes of social injustice are many and include the widening gaps between rich and poor, the unequal distribution of resources, discrimination, and the disenfranchisement of individuals and groups from the political process. PSR’s current core areas of Environment and Health and Global Security have direct connections to social justice issues.

PSR Chapters, PSR Student Chapters, and PSR members are actively involved in addressing social injustice, including areas such as:

• Economic and Social Costs of War and Preparation for War
• Health Care Reform
• Poverty - Social Determinants of Health
• Interpersonal Violence both Domestic and Gun-Related
• Torture
• International Trade Policies
• Homelessness
• Tax equity
• Environmental justice

PSR’s Social Justice Committee Website space provides PSR a means to assert a medical and public health voice in these areas by:

Providing a forum for PSR members to share ideas, articles and papers related to social justice

• Networking with and supporting organizations and advocacy groups concerned with addressing social justice
• Educating health professionals and the public about the health consequences of the root causes of social injustice
• Participating in, and shaping efforts to ensure that the domestic and foreign policy debate in the upcoming state and national elections address efforts to decrease social injustice and its consequences.