“The Body Economic” is an eye-opening piece about the role that government finances and the onset of economic depression plays in access to health and health benefits, and about the lasting effect that it can have on the social determinants of health as well. I found the passage in Chapter 1 where Stuckler discusses governmental debt and its difference from personal debt. Knowing now that it’s not possible, nor is it sensible, to try to alleviate governmental debt overnight since money goes back into an economy when it’s spent, it’s refreshing to read a piece that looks at “austerity advocates” for what they are – people with privilege who lead offensives against people without. To blame welfare recipients for economic drain when there are so many other contributory factors is nothing short of class warfare, and as we’ve explored, it most definitely affects access to public health services and the general quality of health. I think it’s safe to say that austerity is counterproductive; it does the opposite of what it’s intended.
The “post-communist” mortality crisis in Russia was interesting to read about. It was an example of a political-economic decline resulting in immediate, extreme, severe mortal consequences. I was curious when reading about it why I’d never heard about this part of the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s as if the USSR’s decline was a consecutive chain of unfortunate events that would eventually result in death. It’s saddening to imagine that an unemployment rate can jump from zero to twenty-two percent in only a matter of years because of a regime change; even more harrowing, conditions in a town can change to such an extent that men begin to die off by the millions. The rise of alcoholism as a cause of death only furthers the depressing image of post-fall Russia being painted in this chapter.
It was good to read about Malaysia’s strides in public HIV treatment and prevention, especially the mother-to-child prevention program. It’s unfortunate that health declined to such an extent in other countries in Southeast Asia. The IMF appears to have done more harm than good in terms of the spread of HIV and disease in these areas. It’s another example of the pitfalls of austerity and how it harms rather than heals.
