War, Primary Care, and Bioethics Capacity

Abstract

We agree with Jecker et al. that bioethicists have focused too much on niche issues of war, such as military physicians’ moral dilemmas or participation in interrogation and torture, neglecting population health impacts. Bioethics has also neglected the concerns of those who provide primary health care services to civilians, an important component of population health. Primary care is where civilians suffering from the broad and indirect effects of war seek healing. Primary care physicians treat communities, not just individual patients and families. They are well-positioned to recognize and intervene on the community-level effects of war. Bioethics should attend not only to physicians’ obligations to patients but also their critical role in caring for their communities.