Title: Economic Policies for Medical Reproduction that Support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Abstract: Health care produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide in many countries. In 2017, the National Health Service, Health, and Social Care sectors had a carbon output (CO2) of 27.1 million tons. Carbon dioxide emissions contribute to climate change, climate-change related health hazards, and perpetuate environmental racism. Basic health care is a human right and should be provided regardless of carbon impact. Yet, not all health care services cure, treat, or prevent disease. Medical reproduction (MR), also known as assisted reproductive technologies, is a phrase to summarize the intervention of technology into human reproduction; MR does not cure, treat, or prevent infertility. Simultaneously, there is a lack of distributive health care justice worldwide. Developing world women, in particular, suffer from insufficient access to contraception, maternal care, HIV treatment, and breast cancer screening, among other basic medical needs. Distributive health care justice demands a response to unmet health care needs. Yet, the imperative for distributive health care justice and current medical industry carbon emissions threatens to expand the total carbon impact of medical care unless thoughtful policies are proposed.
My IASH-WIP talk will parse the environmental and biomedical concerns of medical reproduction and develop economic policies for MR that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of reducing global maternal mortality (Target 3.1), increasing access to reproductive rights (Target 5.6) and implementing climate change policies (Target 13.2), thus addressing multiple social concerns.
Please click HERE to view the talk online.