Achieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice

dc.contributor.authorBenatar, Solomon R
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-11T09:38:14Z
dc.date.available2018-01-11T09:38:14Z
dc.date.issued2005
dc.date.updated2017-11-09T07:59:30Z
dc.description.abstractChen Reis and colleagues’ study in this month’s PLoS Medicine showed that most Nigerian physicians commendably appeared to be providing appropriate care for HIV/AIDS patients [1]. However, 9% refused to care for such patients, 9% admitted they had refused a patient with HIV/AIDS admission to hospital, and 20% felt that many of these patients had behaved immorally and deserved the disease. The authors also noted the adverse impact of limited health care resources upon ethical practice and protection of human rights (this impact is not surprising in a very poor country with a per-capita GDP of US$290 [2], less than 1% of the United States per-capita GDP). They conclude that discriminatory behaviour and breaches of ethical codes could be addressed effectively through education, enforcement of anti-discrimination policies, increasing resources for health care, and attempts to change attitudes and cultural beliefs. Presumably, their motivations for this study were (1) to better understand how well physicians in Nigeria respect human rights and meet universal ethical standards of medical practice in caring for patients with HIV/AIDS, and (2) to make recommendations that could improve professional practice. Their fi ndings would be more convincing if they could compare their data with similar studies done elsewhere in the world, including the US (home to some of the authors of the study). In particular, it would be valuable to have comparative international data on ethics and human rights standards achieved in medical practice, and on health professionals’ attitudes to patients with HIV/AIDS and other stigmatised conditions. However, Reis and colleagues’ study raises several important questions.
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020260
dc.identifier.apacitationBenatar, S. R. (2005). Achieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice. <i>PLoS Medicine</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26800en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBenatar, Solomon R "Achieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice." <i>PLoS Medicine</i> (2005) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26800en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBenatar, S. R. (2005). Achieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice. PLoS medicine, 2(8), e260.
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Benatar, Solomon R AB - Chen Reis and colleagues’ study in this month’s PLoS Medicine showed that most Nigerian physicians commendably appeared to be providing appropriate care for HIV/AIDS patients [1]. However, 9% refused to care for such patients, 9% admitted they had refused a patient with HIV/AIDS admission to hospital, and 20% felt that many of these patients had behaved immorally and deserved the disease. The authors also noted the adverse impact of limited health care resources upon ethical practice and protection of human rights (this impact is not surprising in a very poor country with a per-capita GDP of US$290 [2], less than 1% of the United States per-capita GDP). They conclude that discriminatory behaviour and breaches of ethical codes could be addressed effectively through education, enforcement of anti-discrimination policies, increasing resources for health care, and attempts to change attitudes and cultural beliefs. Presumably, their motivations for this study were (1) to better understand how well physicians in Nigeria respect human rights and meet universal ethical standards of medical practice in caring for patients with HIV/AIDS, and (2) to make recommendations that could improve professional practice. Their fi ndings would be more convincing if they could compare their data with similar studies done elsewhere in the world, including the US (home to some of the authors of the study). In particular, it would be valuable to have comparative international data on ethics and human rights standards achieved in medical practice, and on health professionals’ attitudes to patients with HIV/AIDS and other stigmatised conditions. However, Reis and colleagues’ study raises several important questions. DA - 2005 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS Medicine LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2005 T1 - Achieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice TI - Achieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26800 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/26800
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBenatar SR. Achieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice. PLoS Medicine. 2005; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26800.en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Bioethicsen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourcePLoS Medicine
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/
dc.titleAchieving gold standards in ethics and human rights in medical practice
dc.typeJournal Article
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Benatar_Article_2005.pdf
Size:
51.61 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.72 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Collections