Session 3: Who Gets to Be Well? Ethics, Inequality, and Human Dignity in Healthcare
This session delves into the ethical dilemmas of healthcare disparities in a world of blurred morality, where decisions on resource allocation, commercialization, and treatment prioritization often reflect deep moral inequalities between producers and consumers, doctors and patients, the poor and the wealthy. It examines how societal values shape access to care, questioning whether moral judgments exacerbate divides or if equitable frameworks can bridge them, ultimately aiming to foster discussions on policies that promote true wellness for all amid conflicting interests and systemic biases. Participants will explore practical strategies to balance innovation with ethics, ensuring human-centered care prevails over profit-driven exploitation.
- Equity in Healthcare Access: How should societies fairly decide who gets critical care when demand exceeds supply? Does prioritizing certain groups reinforce or reduce moral inequities?
- Commercialization vs Ethics: How can regulators prevent commercial wellness products and services from exploiting consumers while still allowing innovation?
- Prioritization and Moral Judgments: Should moral judgments about personal behavior influence who receives life-saving treatments, and what frameworks ensure fairness?
- Two-Tiered Systems and Social Justice: What policies can reduce the gap between private and public healthcare, ensuring that “wellness for all” is more than a slogan?
- Physician Incentives vs Human Values: How can healthcare systems balance efficiency metrics with preserving the intrinsic value of human-centered care?
Moderator:
Ms Joann Tiong
Founder and CEO of Le Medica; 1st Runner-Up, Miss Wellness World
Speakers:
1. Prof Chantal Herberholz, PhD
Professor of Economics at Chulalongkorn University
2. Dr John Noel Viana, PhD
Fellow at the Justice and Technoscience Laboratory at Australian National University
3. Prof Dr Masamine Jimba
Professor Emeritus of Department of Community and Global Health of The University of Tokyo
4. Dr Phusit Prakongsai, MD
Former Director of International Health Policy Program (IHPP)
5. Mr Sarin K C
Head of the Environmental Economics Unit at HITAP, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand