By Kelsey Berry
The Harvard School of Public Health Department of Global Health and Population (GHP) is hosting what promises to be a fascinating 2-seminar series on Monday Dec 8 and Wednesday Dec 10 entitled: “A Practice of Social Medicine: South Africa and Beyond.” This event should be of interest to those thinking about models for Universal Health Coverage, community-based approaches to health, history and sociology of medicine and health care delivery, and population-level ethics.
The series will feature Professor Shula Marks, Emeritus Professor, University of London, and Fellow of the British Academy.
A word from the organizers: For just over a decade in the mid-twentieth century, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, South Africa was widely acknowledged as being in the forefront of progressive thought in health care delivery, its distinctive social conditions and developed medical practice making possible an experiment in social medicine with far-reaching implications. These two lectures trace the story to its South African roots in the 1930s and 1940s, its propagation via the subsequent diaspora of progressive physicians, and its links to kindred developments throughout the world. Its vision of a community-based, equitable, effective, inclusive, low cost approach to health emphasizing prevention and education may offer a distinctive model for Universal Health Coverage.
*The first lecture “South Africa’s Experiment in Social Medicine, 1940-1960: A Model to the World?“ will be held on Monday December 8th, from 4:30pm to 6:00pm in HSPH Building 1, Room 1208.
*The second lecture “Social Medicine in South Africa, 1960s to the Present“ will be held on Wednesday December 10th, from 4:30pm to 6:00pm in HSPH Building 1, Room 1208
For non-Harvard affiliated attendants, please email mclark@hsph.harvard.edu to arrange for access to the buildings in advance.
