BMJ  2007;335:628-629 (29 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39346.509699.3A

Letters

Health equity for all

Capitalism is a force for good

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Maryon-Davis's editorial embodies the doctrinaire anticapitalism characteristic of public health administrators, including the World Health Organization.¹ This bias leads to stunning misrepresentations of reality and currently stands as a major obstacle to improving world health.

The largest scale reduction of poverty in the history of the planet has occurred over the past two decades.² This unprecedented progress is mainly due to the progressive adoption of capitalism by the vast populations of China, India, and other Asian nations: China alone is lifting a million people a month out of poverty.³ Yet Maryon-Davis seems not to have noticed this.

The poorest parts of the world are the least capitalist. Some nations in sub-Saharan Africa are going backwards. In Malawi the standard of living (daily calorie consumption) is perhaps the lowest that has ever existed in human history. This is a consequence of medical advances which allow population to increase even during chronic . . . [Full text of this article]

University of Newcastle on Tyne, Newcastle on Tyne NE1 7RU

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Achieving health equity for all

Alan Maryon-Davis
BMJ 2007 335: 522-523. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Population and Poverty: Malawi

James G Danaher
bmj.com, 2 Oct 2007 [Full text]

Achieving health equity with more liberty, wealth, and ethics.

Anonymous Cuban professional
bmj.com, 5 Oct 2007 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more here>> and here>>