Knowra Paul Farmer Paul Farmer Paul Farmer (1959–2022) was an American physician and medical anthropologist who co-founded Partners In Health and advocated for high-quality health care for poor communities.
Jim Yong Kim : A physician and anthropologist who co-founded Partners In Health and later led the World Bank. Kim co-founded Partners In Health with Farmer and helped develop its community-based care model.
Partners In Health : An international nonprofit that provides health care and strengthens health systems in underserved communities. Farmer co-founded the organization as the main vehicle for his model of care.
Medical anthropology : The study of how culture, society, politics, and biology shape health, illness, and healing. Farmer used anthropological analysis alongside medicine to explain why illness and treatment follow social inequalities.
Global health : The study and practice of improving health and achieving equity across national boundaries. Farmer became a prominent advocate for treating global health as a matter of justice and shared responsibility.
Vertical health program : A health program focused on a particular disease or intervention rather than broad health-system functions. Farmer argued that disease-specific treatment could strengthen, rather than undermine, comprehensive care.
Ophelia Dahl : A British-American humanitarian and nonprofit leader who co-founded Partners In Health. Dahl helped establish the organization whose work Farmer built with local partners.
Zanmi Lasante : A Haitian health organization that provides medical care and community health services, especially in the Central Plateau. This was the local institution through which Farmer and Haitian colleagues developed their approach.
Structural violence : Social arrangements that systematically expose some populations to harm and constrain their life chances. Farmer used this concept to connect preventable illness with poverty, racism, and political power.
Right to health : The human right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Farmer’s work challenged the idea that poverty should determine which treatments people can receive.
Health system strengthening : Efforts to improve the institutions, workforce, financing, and services that make up a health system. Partners In Health’s model raises questions about how external programs can build durable public capacity.
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