Analyzing the politico-moral foundations of the Iran’s health system based on theories of justice

• Main Authors: Forouzan Akrami, Mahmoud Abbasi, Abbas Karimi, Akbar Shahrivari, Reza Majdzadeh, Alireza Zali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2017-04-01
• Series: Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine
• Subjects: Politics; Moral philosophy; Public health; Justice; Iran
• Online Access: https://jmehm.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jmehm/article/view/214

Public health ethics is a field that covers both factual and ethical issues in health policy and science, and has positive obligations to improve the well-being of populations and reduce social inequalities. It is obvious that various philosophies and moral theories can differently shape the framework of public health ethics. For this reason, the present study reviewed theories of justice in order to analyze and criticize Iran’s general health policies document, served in 14 Articles in 2014. Furthermore, it explored egalitarianism as the dominant theory in the political philosophy of the country’s health care system. According to recent theories of justice, however, health policies must address well-being and its basic dimensions such as health, reasoning, autonomy, and the role of the involved agencies and social institutions in order to achieve social justice beyond distributive justice. Moreover, policy-making in the field of health and biomedical sciences based on Islamic culture necessitates a theory of social justice in the light of theological ethics. Educating people about their rights and duties, increasing their knowledge on individual agency, autonomy, and the role of the government, and empowering them will help achieve social justice. It is recommended to design and implement a strategic plan following each of these policies, based on the above-mentioned values and in collaboration with other sectors, to clarify the procedures in every case.