Global Health: Discussion About Ethics and Human Rights (Essay Sample)

Name:
Institution:
Institution:
Date:
Global Health: Ethics and Human Rights
Everyone is entitled to a healthy and culturally suitable food produced through environmentally friendly and sustainable methods all around the world. However, there are about 500 million obese people and over 800 million people faced with chronic hunger around the world (Dixon, 2010, p. 186). These statistics challenge the very foundations of a fundamental human right principle and spark hot debates of ethical issues associated with food security. There is a clear difference presented by these statistics that some people have more than they need while others barely have enough for themselves. It is, therefore, unethical to have one part of the society have more than they need while another part is malnourished. Humans are social beings and, therefore, should take the necessary measures to ensure that each one of them has, at least, access to good, sufficient and nutritious diet. Here below are some of the reasons why I think having a malnourished section of the global population is unethical and an enemy to global development.
Most of the people affected adversely by hunger are children and mothers. Children are the future of human survival, and if some of them grow up in impoverished conditions, the future of humankind is threatened. Children born of families living in abject poverty and those who do not have even enough to eat is not their choice. Leaving them to suffer whereby in some cases it costs their lives and leads to stunted growth is unethical and all humanity should come together and help protect the lives of these children. Kids from such backgrounds should live their lives normal if the discrepancy of food allocation ad affordability is addressed by the relevant authorities. The resources and excess food available to the obese people can be channeled to hunger stricken areas to fight malnutrition.
Most governments around the world are democratic, and the office bearers are responsible for the wellbeing of the electorate. Many of the electoral candidates use demagoguery to lure the electorate to vote for them. One of their key campaign strategies focuses on the equitable distribution of wealth and resources of that country. Food is also discussed in the political campaigns promising the people especially from the hunger stricken areas measures to ensure they have access to nutritious food. Most of these promises are never kept, and the electorate ends up in a vicious cycle of poverty barely having enough to eat. It is morally wrong that the politicians deceive the masses and give them empty promises.
Food is a basic human need. Denial of food is a denial of the right to live. If in any way a government, society, organization or an individual denies a person or a group of people food then they deny him/her the right to live. It is unethical for the society to witness people dying of hunger and do nothing about it. Human life should be guarded at all costs and that includes the access of food. The society should ensure there is enough food for everyone to avoid the adverse effects of hunger that impede development. The development pace of societies that have foolproof food programs is much faster than those with a malnourished population.
In some cases, the people affected by malnutrition are expectant mothers who need healthier nutrition. In support of the right to life, all expectant mothers should access quality medical care with proper nutrition to enable them to sire healthy kids. It is very immoral to have some people having leftovers on their tables while expectant and suckling mothers are living on meager meals a day. While some children and mothers suffer societal injustices instituted by few greedy individuals, the society slowly degenerates to moral decay with many people resulting to crime to enable them to land a meal.
Food insecurity has become a global threat and has been mainly incubated by few powerful individuals who want to gain supernormal...