Over the past decade the delivery of medical care has been transformed in many parts of the globe by the introduction of new technologies, such as rapid diagnostic tests for malaria and dengue, or the introduction of new forms of telemedicine which allow local providers in Delhi or Lusaka to consult distant medical experts by cell phone in diagnosing patients with angina symptoms. The provision of care has also been transformed by the expansion of humanitarian medical services, such as those provided by MSF or Partners in Health. In addition, the growing emphasis on market driven solutions to health care delivery, and the rise of evidence based medicine as an instrument for defining what constitutes appropriate health care, have reshaped the medical landscape. Each of these innovations promises to improve health care delivery. Yet each carries with it assumptions about the locus of expertise and the geography of medical knowledge, the role of the state in regulating health care delivery, definitions of what constitutes biomedical citizenship, and the social context of healing. This years Critical Global Health Seminar will explore these and related issues raised by changes in the location and nature of medical care.
Associate Professor, Département de médecine sociale et préventive, École de Santé publique, Faculté de médecine, Université de Montréal
PhD student, Dept. of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health and Dept. of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University
PhD student, Dept. of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University
Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anthropology and Dept. of African and African American Studies, Harvard University