A Global Public Goods Approach to the Health of Migrants.

Heather Widdows,Herjeet Marway

doi:10.1093/phe/phv013

Abstract

This paper explores a global public goods approach to the health of migrants. It suggests that this approach establishes that there are a number of health goods which must be provided to migrants not because these are theirs by right (although this may independently be the case), but because these goods are primary goods which fit the threefold criteria of global public goods. There are two key advantages to this approach: first, it is non-confrontational and non-oppositional, and second, it provides self-interested arguments to provide at least some health goods to migrants and thus appeals to those little moved by rights-based arguments.

Highlights

It suggests that this approach establishes that there are a number of health goods which must be provided to migrants not because these are theirs by right, but because these goods are primary goods which fit the threefold criteria of global public goods
There are two key advantages to this approach: first, it is nonconfrontational and non-oppositional, and second, it provides self-interested arguments to provide at least some health goods to migrants and appeals to those little moved by rights-based arguments
We argue that there are two key advantages to our approach: first, it is non-confrontational and non-oppositional, so may be useful in surmounting the current impasse which assumes that one group can only benefit at the expense of another, and second, as a result, it may convince those who have little interest in the rights of migrants to support the provision of health goods to them

Summary

Introduction

The global public good cannot be protected without collective action (nor can the resulting harms be prevented without collective action), If these two descriptive criteria are met we argue that a—normative—claim is implied, that: A global public good which meets the descriptive criteria is a primary good which should be protected to prevent significant harms to all individuals and states and/or individuals cannot be allowed to choose to neglect this good.6

Results

Conclusion