Vision
A Preferential Option for the Poor
Paul Farmer’s vision for saving lives sprang from liberation theology and its concept of making “a preferential option for the poor.” Providing the highest possible care to vulnerable people and communities is a powerful way to proactively fight longstanding injustice.
Equity in Global Health
Tout moun se moun. All humans are human.
A simple concept, but difficult to embody. And even more difficult to support and standardize in situations of extreme poverty. But Paul believed that health care is a human right, that any malady treatable in rich places should be equally treatable in poor places, and that anything less is unacceptable.
Accompaniment
Accompaniment was the core of Paul’s clinical and social intervention. Paul learned from the accompagnateurs of Haiti how effective it can be to work alongside patients and meet their needs in their own contexts, for as long as necessary. Community Health Workers in many countries now travel from village to village and home to home, providing medicines and hands-on care, in solidarity with their neighbors.
The Five S’s
