About the discussion
Tuesday, November 3, 7 to 9 p.m.
Guest: Abby Lippman
Moderator: Baijayanta (Baj) Mukhopadhyay
Venue: Coop La Maison Verte, 5785 Sherbrooke Ouest (@ Melrose)
Reforming health care is a hot topic in Quebec, as well as in Canada and the USA. Most agree that some things need "fixing," but there's no agreement on just what to repair -- or how. As well, much of the public debate seems to stall at complaints about long waiting lines and a shortage of doctors, while the only solution offered is said to be privatization. The questions about health care and potential ways to address them are much more complex and serious than we are being led to believe. In this conversation, we will dig deeper into the current health care debate and discuss what kind of policies and practices we need to promote and sustain our health and that of our families and communities.
Guest:
Abby Lippman is a Professor at McGill University and a Research Associate at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute (Concordia). Combining activism with research, Abby’s research has been centred mainly on feminist studies of applied genetic technologies, as well as on general issues in, and the politics of, women's health, with specific attention to the relation of gender to health in the areas of biotechnology and pharmaceutical and health (care) reform policies.
Moderator:
Medical student, Baijayanta (Baj) Mukhopadhyay, has worked in the community sector both in Montreal and abroad, particularly issues of housing, welfare, immigration and refugee rights and HIV/AIDS. He holds a Master's degree in Sociology where he explored how social movements are organised. As a medical student, Baj is interested in debunking myths about the health care system, in particular the supposed benefits of a two-tier system, supporting patient self-advocacy, and nurturing different traditions of health care.