The Flint water contamination crisis: the corrosion of positive peace and human decency

摘要

The human body is 70% water and people need two or three litres of it per day to remain hydrated (Mayo Clinic 2016). The United States has made it a priority to have one of the safest public drinking water supplies in the world (CDC 2014) . So why did a severe water contamination crisis occur in Flint, Michigan between 2014 and 2017. Indeed, lead contamination prevails in many other communities besides Flint. Moreover, this public health emergency is man-made - a consequence of government neglect and carelessness. It represents a government's'cost-saving'decision to switch the Flint municipal water system to a new and less safe water source. As a result, lead leached into Flint's water system, poisoning residents - mainly poor, African-American and under the age of five (Hanna-Attisha et al. 2016). What are the driving forces behind this crisis? Positive peace is defined as 'the attitudes, institutions and structures which create and sustain peaceful societies.'(The Institute for Economics and Peace 2015) . It requires a well-functioning government, the equitable distribution of resources and the free flow of information.The Flint water contamination is an invisible act of what Johan Galtung calls 'structural violence,' (Galtung 1969) carried out by government officials against a poor and ethnically distinct community. To achieve reconciliation in Flint, it is necessary to uncover the truth behind the crisis. We argue that health professionals, including public health workers, have a moral duty, not only to prevent and treat disease, but also to address the'upstream factors' of ill health and conflict and to advocate for social justice and peace.