ABSTRACT
This chapter uses three diseases or medical conditions to explore aspects of the relationship between health and poverty, and to illuminate similarities and differences between the capabilities approach and other methods of analyzing and addressing health problems. The first discussion is on maternal mortality. It provides an overview of the relevant disease (eclampsia) and its treatment before studying the public health considerations and how poverty and capabilities are relevant. The second discussion is on hepatitis C, and the third on malaria. In these discussions, the role of human rights in relation to both disease prevalence and treatment is considered. These three health problems have been chosen because they illustrate different concepts and challenges, and different ways in which health may influence human capabilities and human capabilities may also influence bodily health. The chapter concludes with a brief analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on capabilities.
