mary bassett

[nyc]

intro’d to Mary via tedmed 2015 – Why your doctor should care about social justice

2 min – i believed i was doing my best… but i was not talking about structural change

a nother way

39 mill have lost lives to this disease (hiv)..

4 min – while in zimbabwe – i didn’t see my role as political but technical.. and in my mind.. my job was to take care of patients and do research…

whites were largely unscathed…

when treatment became available… it was unaffordable to public sector across africa.. i didn’t speak out to these life saving aspects.. i rationalized my silence.. that i was a guest.. this could get me kicked out.. keep me from taking care of my patients..

i didn’t voice my concerns loudly enough..

many health prof’s think i did nothing wrong… the sanctity of patient/dr relationship and i did everything i could for every patient..

but patterns of marginalization/exclusion… was true of aids.. true of ebola..

paul farmer (haiti aids work) – called this structural violence… inequities embedded in org of political/economic social world… often in ways that are invisible… and violent.. pre mature death

we do little for our patients if we fail to recognize these social injustices..

8 min – these days i’m not staying quiet.. things we’re not supposed to have in this country anymore.. certainly not in public health..

institutional/personal violence of 250 yrs of slavery 90 yrs of jim crow 60 yrs of imperfect equality.. sounding alarm about this is central to doing my job right.. as nyc health commissioner…

9 min – black baby – 3x risk of death in first year of life… stats paralleled across u.s.

1.5 mill missing black mean across country.. more than 1 out of 6 have disappeared.. lost to prison or pre mature death.. great injustice… also… common medical diseases take even more black lives pre maturely

med community keeping from using word – racism.. i worry that trend toward personalized med… may inadvertently cause us to lose sight of big picture.. daily context where person lives.. that most importantly determines population health

12 min – health prof’s are witness to great injustice..

our role is not just to treat… but to sound the alarm… our sociatal position gives our voices great authority and we shouldn’t waste that

it’s time for us to rise up.. speak up .. about structural inequality

we don’t have to have all the answer to call for change.. we just need courage