Young Scholars Arrive at 2024 AcademyHealth Research Meeting
Baltimore Event Immerses Them in the National Health Services Research Community
In Their Own Words
Water is a Basic Human Right. So Why is Philly Resuming Shutoffs May 24?
The Amount of Money Collected by Shutting Off Service to Customers Who Can’t Afford to Pay is a Drop in the Bucket Compared to the Incredible Damage That Shutoffs Cause
Print:
The following excerpt is from an op-ed that first appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 16, 2023.
During the chemical spill last March that imperiled the city’s biggest water treatment plant, nearly one million Philadelphians feared losing access to safe drinking water. Most residents are not used to living with such a threat. But many of our fellow Philadelphians will experience that fear and uncertainty every year — not because of contamination, but because of poverty.
Water security — the ability to reliably access safe water — is recognized by the Pennsylvania Constitution as a basic human right, yet tens of thousands of Philly residents have their water turned off every year because they are unable to pay their bills.
We understand that the city needs to collect money from residents to maintain its water infrastructure. But the amount of money collected by shutting off service to customers who can’t afford to pay is a drop in the bucket compared to the incredible damage that shutoffs cause.
Without running water, people can’t wash their hands or their dishes, or prepare their food. They have limited use of toilets and bathing. Something as critical as a baby’s infant formula becomes highly stressful to prepare. What’s worse, water shutoffs can destroy families — unaffordable utility bills and utility service terminations are the most common housing issues requiring children to be placed in foster care. As debt accumulates from water shutoffs, it can lead to financial ruin and a downward spiral to homelessness.
Read the entire op-ed here.
Authors
Christina A. Roberto, PhD
Associate Professor, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine
Associate Professor, Annenberg School for Communication
Laura Gibson, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine
Robert Ballenger, Esq.
Attorney, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
More on Health Equity
New Study Documents Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Veterans’ Experiences With VA-Funded Community Care
Disparities Were Modest but Persisted
Amanda Kreider Receives ASHEcon Chair Award
Cited for “Exceptional Abstract” on Adverse Selection in Medicaid Networks
To Get More Diversity in Child ICU Studies, Doctors Need to Ask Parents More Often For Consent
Doctors Must Use Better Tools to Ask Parents and Guardians On Their Terms, an LDI Senior Fellow Says
Measuring Kidney Disease Progression May Be More Accurate Than a Single Measure of Organ Function, New Study Says
The Focus on Progression Also Cut Disparities in Waiting List Times for Black and Hispanic Patients, but Not for Asian/Pacific Islander Patients
Chart of the Day: What U.S. Bioethicists Think About Key Health Issues Like Abortion and Paying Organ Donors
LDI Expert Finds the Views of Bioethicists Often Differ from the American Public, a Difference Possibly Related to Their Overall Lack of Diversity