Globalization is characterized by the
increasing cross-border flows of goods, services, capital, people, and
information, which have direct and indirect effects on health (Milstien, Kaddar
& Kieny, 2006). More specifically, it poses problems on the transmission of
communicable and non-communicable diseases and on the increasing inequality in accessing
the health care services.
In today’s world, infectious diseases spread
more rapidly, increasing the risk of global pandemic. In the past, the
spreading of infectious diseases was rather localized, confining to a
particular region. However, under the effect of globalization, the world is
getting more interconnected. Migrations or travels on business or pleasure
purposes contribute to the increasing mobility of human activities. As a result,
it increases the possibilities of disease transmission substantially. Furthermore,
the speed of transmission is also increased facilitated by convenient
transportations. For example, the 2009 swine influenza was spread to 30
countries within 6 weeks and to more than 190 countries and territories within
months (the National Academies). Infectious disease outbreak is no longer a
threat to just a specific region or country. Instead, the whole world will be
influenced to a certain extent.
In addition, non-communicable diseases resulted
from the spread of unhealthy lifestyle affect the health of the global
population. It is already widely acknowledged and demonstrated that several
modern behavioural factors such as an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity,
smoking, alcohol misuse and the use of illicit drugs are having a profound
impact on human health (Huynen, Martens, & Hilderink,
2005). For example, obesity, which used to be a public health problem mainly
in western countries, has gradually become a global problem over the past two
decades. If recent trends continue unabated, nearly 60 percent of the world’s
population – 3.3 billion people – could be overweight or obese by 2030 (Kelly,
Yang, Chen, Reynolds & He, 2008). China is increasingly overwhelmed by the unhealthy
diet from the west. McDonald’s, for example, had 1,000
outlets in the country by 2006, and, according to news reports, the company
plans to double that number by 2013. Coca Cola reportedly expects China to
become its largest market by 2020. Although, unlike infectious diseases, these
chronic diseases are not transmitted by infectious agents, the behaviours that
result in these diseases can be wide spread via advertising, product marketing
and social interactions and the effect is enhanced by globalization. It poses a
threat to a larger scale of population.
The difference in accessing quantitative
and qualitative health care services widens between developed and developing
countries. For developed countries, they benefitted to a greater extent from globalization.
They increase in investment and in trade, harvesting more profit which can be
used to improve the health care sector. More effort will be put into the
research and clinical field to develop novel treatment and new pharmaceutical
products or vaccines. As shown in statistics, developed countries, hardly
10% of the world's nations, are consuming nearly 90% of research resources. Hence, higher-quality health care services
will be made available to the residents. In contrast, for developing countries,
certain diseases are already more prevalent due to poor living conditions, such
as malaria in Africa. Due to globalization, more diseases which used to be more
common in developed world will also appear, adding burden to the already-weak health
care sector. Inadequacy of fund, medical resources and research work further
contribute to the lower competency in combating the threat in public health.
As it is
not practical and possible to terminate globalization, the negative
consequences caused should be tried to be minimized. Collective effort could be
established among various countries should there be an infectious disease
outbreak. They may work together to monitor the progress of the disease and formulate
applicable strategies to localize the disease as far as possible.
Local government
should increase publicity of healthy lifestyle via public lectures or
campaigns. Tax for cigarette and alcohol could be increased so as to discourage
people from consuming them. Policies could be implemented to ban illicit drug
usage completely. By cultivating healthier habits among the population, the
chance of occurrence of these chronic diseases could be drastically reduced.
Developing
countries should learn to fully utilize the opportunities provided by
globalization to develop their strengths so as to boost their economies. For
example, some countries have attractive natural scenery, so they may work on to
develop tourism. As government has more budgets, larger amount can be diverted
to improve health care services. By improving the overall living conditions,
they should try to use incentives to attract well educated and experience
health care professionals to improve standard of the health care services.
Organizations
such as Red Cross and World Health Organization (WHO) could help in negotiating
with developed countries for potential monetary, material, and technical supports
for the developing countries. Developed
countries could offer training opportunities for health care professionals from
the developing countries, so they can bring back advanced skills in the
treatment of certain diseases. They can also provide a team of experienced health
care experts to work in the developing world for a certain period of time. Furthermore,
they could donate potent pharmaceutical products and vaccines to help them tackle
certain diseases.
Globalization
has a negative impact on the health aspect. By attempting the above-mentioned
suggestions could ameliorate the
conditions to a certain extent.
Reference:
Milstien,
J. B., Kaddar, M., & Kieny, M. P. (2006). The impact of globalization on
vaccine development and availability. Health
Aff July 2006 vol. 25 no. 4 1061-1069. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.25.4.1061
The National Academies. Infectious
disease global challenges. Retrieved from http://needtoknow.nas.edu/id/challenges/globalization/
Huynen, M. M., Martens, P., &
Hilderink, H. B. (2005). The health impacts of globalization: a conceptual
framework. Global Health. 2005 Aug
3;1:14. doi:10.1186/1744-8603-1-14
Kelly, T., Yang, W.,
Chen, C.S., Reynolds, K., He, J.. Global burden of obesity in 2005 and
projections to 2030. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Sep;32(9):1431-7. doi:
10.1038/ijo.2008.102
