Introduction

The fundamental, most basic claim of this book is that all people, everywhere, are entitled to at least a basic threshold level of health care, and that this entitlement, justifiable with a range of moral theoretical frameworks, generates a range of duties that all persons have obligations to fulfil. The goal of this book is thus to identify exactly what these duties require, from whom, and when, questions around which the rest of this book is constructed. There are (at least) three key questions which are central to this goal as it applies to health justice: first, why is health of such importance that caring for the health of others takes on normative significance? Second, what is it that we must do, individually and collectively for the health of others? Third, how can responsibility for such care be allocated fairly? In this chapter, I outline the theoretical and practical context in which these questions are situated and provide an overview of the structure of this book as a whole.