Defense Date

4-23-2020

Graduation Date

Fall 12-18-2020

Availability

One-year Embargo

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Health Care Ethics

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Gerard Magill

Committee Member

Joris Gielen

Committee Member

Peter Osuji

Keywords

Global ethics, Health, Environment, Human Rights, Patient Safety, Clinical Trials, UNESCO, Niger Delta

Abstract

ABSTRACT

THE CONTRIBUTION OF A GLOBAL ETHICS APPROACH TO HEALTH AND THE

ENVIRONMENT IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION

By

Augustine Lezorgia Wayii, M. ED, M.A.

May 2020

Dissertation supervised by Gerard Magill, PhD

The dissertation presents a global ethics approach that connects health and the environment in the context of the Niger Delta Region. The people of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria are experiencing major catastrophes that connect health and the environment. In the bid to ameliorate these pivotal problems, this dissertation undertakes an ethical analysis that connects health and the environment. Insofar as these problems can be characteristic of other regions in the world, a global ethics approach is adopted. This global ethics approach adopts as a hermeneutical context the principles in the UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. Thus, the UNESCO Principles will provide an interpretative perspective for the global ethics analysis in each of the normative chapters to highlight the connection between health and the environment. Instead of merely applying the UNESCO articles linearly to the chapter topics, the approach adopted pursues two goals: first, to explain how the analysis in the chapters is consistent with and can be enlightened by the UNESCO articles; second, to explain how the chapter analysis can elucidate the UNESCO articles to bolster their relevance for other related issues. Consequently, attaining a sustainable environment that enhances human health is vital to human beings in the present and future generations. Like other global bioethical problems, the Niger Delta environmental and health problems have a global implication. The UNESCO Declaration principles that guide the discussion in this dissertation assumes immediately that human beings as global citizens have responsibilities to each other irrespective of one’s nationality. Therefore, this dissertation urges all human beings toward the respect for human dignity and human rights, protection of the environment, biosphere and biodiversity, protection of future generation, solidarity and cooperation, social responsibility, sharing of benefits, non-discrimination and non-stigmatization, respect for cultural diversity and pluralism, promotion of justice, equality and equity among others. It concludes that the proper utilization of these principles in policies that connect health and the environment in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria will help to improve the existing problems. It was, therefore, recommended that the Nigerian government, multinational oil firms, and miscreants should redirect their steps toward the proper implementation of environmental/health policies that are beneficial to the people.

Language

English

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