Health Research: A Tool for Social Justice and the Poor

Abstract

Health research can, and must, contribute to the alleviation of social injustice and powerlessness and their consequences. In so doing, it needs to ensure that the poor are healthy, productive and happy (that is, they can enjoy the fruits of their productivity). Poverty, unemployment and low health status are symptoms of deprivation borne of powerlessness. Therefore, health research that empowers the researched must address their poverty, unemployment as well as vulnerability to diseases. This can be achieved through their participation in the research funding process. The appropriate participatory research design must allow the poor and deprived to participate in research design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination of information. Such an approach is essential in order to avoid studying the poor to enrich the wealthy. Experiences with, and examples of, health research have demonstrated the consequences of ignoring the need to place the well-being of the researched at the centre of analysis. These have resulted in career advantages for the researchers and the manipulation of results without social justice for the researched. Research has also lead to monetary responses to deprivation without addressing the social and economic inequalities accompanying powerlessness. A shift in the centre of analysis could precipitate different results and actions. It would enable the poor to study the rich to learn how to become wealthy and achieve social justice.