Global Economy the Constant Gardener\"

Global Economy

The Constant Gardener" (2005): What should be the role of the United States in promoting global economic justice and human flourishing?

The first response of most viewers upon seeing "The Constant Gardener" (2005) which details the use of experimental drugs on poor Africans is that of horror. Surely that could never happen in 'the real world,' it is tempting to cry. However, issues of equity and access to healthcare make the central premise of the film not so far-fetched. First of all, even within America, because of a lack of access to affordable healthcare, many individuals subject themselves to drug trials, hoping for a cure but also simply access to the types of drugs they need to survive. Healthcare access is a pervasive international problem.

The Constant Gardener" demonstrates how untold numbers of individuals in the developing world lack basic access to care. Giving women access to birth control, ensuring decent sanitation, and other measures would save lives and make for a better planet in the long run for all of us, by controlling infectious diseases, reducing the chances of political instability in the region, and allowing economic development to take place. Individuals who can control their family size, drink clean water, and receive vaccinations are more likely to resort to positive, non-violent ways of improving conditions in their country than those citizens who do not have these things.

However, compassion and long-term concerns have seldom guided policies in regards to Africa. One example of this is AIDS treatment, where many individuals struggle to obtain antiretroviral drugs because of the drugs' expense. Under pressure, Western drug companies that sell the drug have offered them to the sick at a discounted rate, but even this is often too much for the poorest of the poor. Pharmaceutical companies have benefited from government protection and the funds of the developed world, and it is within the United States government's power to urge these companies to make the world a more equitable and healthier place, at very least through by offering them tax incentives if they offer the drugs to AIDS sufferers for free.

But merely ensuring access to pharmaceuticals for a particular disease is not enough. Access to appropriate preventative healthcare is essential, so, for example, individuals do not merely use antibiotic drugs for a short while, and then discontinue them because they are feeling better. Clinics can also provide birth control, given vaccinations and teach community residents how to practice more sanitary methods of food preparation to stem the spread of other infectious aliments. To improve access to preventative care will require major funding and a major international effort. However, everyone will benefit if these initiatives are taken -- a more economically and politically stable Africa will help the entire world's geopolitical stability, and will ensure that a more costly effort of military as opposed to humanitarian aid will not be necessary in the future. To stabilize Europe after World War II, America instituted the Marshall Plan, with the argument that a stable world is a safer world. This is also true of Africa, where the health consequences of rampant HIV and other infectious diseases hamper economic growth -- Africa needs its own Marshall Plan, in terms of healthcare.