Download HOW THE SOCIAL SCIENCES CAN CONTRIBUTE IN THE BATTLE

HOW THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES CAN
CONTRIBUTE IN THE
BATTLE AGAINST
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Kai-Lit Phua, PhD FLMI
Associate Professor
School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Monash University Malaysia Campus
Biographical details
Kai-Lit Phua received his BA (cum laude) in Public Health
& Population Studies from the University of Rochester
and his PhD in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University.
He also holds professional qualifications from the
insurance industry.
Prior to joining academia, he worked as a research
statistician for the Maryland Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene and as an Assistant Manager for the
Managed Care Department of a leading insurance
company in Singapore.
He was awarded an Asian Public Intellectual Senior
Fellowship by the Nippon Foundation in 2003.
Learning Objectives

To gain an understanding of some of the major
social science disciplines

To appreciate the usefulness of the social
sciences in the battle against infectious diseases
An Introduction to Some of the
Social Sciences

History

Political Science

Economics

Sociology & Anthropology

Mass Communications
History
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Deals with past events, what led to their
occurrence and how these past events can
continue to influence the present
Seminal works by medical historians include
“Rats, Lice and History” by Hans Zinsser and
“Plagues and Peoples” by William McNeill
We can learn a lot from the history of past and
present infectious disease outbreaks e.g. the
Black Death, HIV/AIDS, Nipah virus, SARS etc.
Black Death – Jews as scapegoats; population
movements and spread of the disease
HIV/AIDS – initial inaction by President Ronald
Reagan for various reasons (thus worsening the
problem)
Political Science
Deals with power, authority, legitimacy and the
struggle for control of resources by different
interest groups
 Sub-disciplines include International Relations
(deals with relations between nation-states),
Public Administration, and Public Policy Analysis
(deals with public agenda-setting & the politics
of public policy formulation, implementation and
evaluation)
 Governance issues are important e.g. public
health laws and regulations; poor public health
governance in China and the spread of SARS to
other nations; international governance (WHO,
CDC technical assistance to other nations)

Economics
Deals with issues related to the efficient
allocation of scarce resources so as to maximize
output and utility (consumer satisfaction)
 Deals with the “market” and the government in
the production, distribution, consumption and
regulation of goods and services
 Economists have special expertise in the area of
economic evaluation e.g. cost-effectiveness
analysis to promote technical efficiency in the
provision of health-related services
 Health economists have attempted to estimate
the cost of various epidemic disease outbreaks

Sociology and Anthropology
Sister disciplines that deal with how people
behave in groups & how these are shaped by
social institutions and socially-derived cultural
norms, values and beliefs (including religion)
 Studies how the socio-cultural environment can
facilitate/hinder the spread of infectious diseases
 Facilitating spread of HIV/AIDS: denial by
politicians about extent of problem (such as
President Thabo Mbeki in South Africa), sex
work as a survival strategy by poor women or
trans-sexuals, needle-sharing by drug abusers,
large numbers of male migrant workers,
disapproval of religious authorities against sex
education in schools and distribution of condoms
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Sociology and Anthropology

Sociologists have special expertise in studying
how social change (including disease outbreaks)
can have differential impact on people
categorized according to variables such as
ethnicity, social class, gender, age, geographical
location, marital status, educational attainment,
religiosity, disability status or sexual orientation.
Mass Communications
Deals with issues and challenges associated with
the transmission of information to large numbers
of people
 Absolutely essential to have a system of
effective mass communications during disease
outbreaks – prevent panic, provide accurate
information, promote appropriate care-seeking,
(including reducing unnecessary care-seeking by
the “worried well” and “bunching” at particular
health facilities that may overwhelm their
medical staff), co-ordinate the work of essential
personnel such as health workers (including
ambulance drivers) and the police etc.

Additional Considerations
Social scientists should also pay attention to the
aftermath of infectious disease outbreaks
 For example, what are the health effects
(physical and mental) on those who were
infected but survived? How were their family
members affected?
 Did the outbreak result in negative short term
and long term effects (non-health effects) such
as: reduced household income, employment
problems, heavy financial loss, indebtedness,
family discord, domestic violence, stigmatization,
outmigration, population decline?
 Was there any rebound? Did strong community
bonds (social capital) help in the recovery?
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THE END
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