Globalization\'s Affect on Public Health the Objective

Globalization's Affect On Public Health

The objective of this study is to examine the affect of globalization on public health. Mendoza (2007) writes that the World Health Assembly (WHA) "ratified the new International Health Regulations" in May 2005. (p.79) The revised IHR is reported to empower the World Health Organization (WHO) and member states to meet the 21st Century global health challenges affecting international traffic and trade." (Mendoza, 2007, p.79) The IHR is described as a "key global governance instrument for the protection of international spread of disease, and in order to obtain its intended goals it must be administrated under ethical governance principles promoting the cooperation among member states, WHO, intergovernmental organizations, international bodies, corporations and non-government organizations." (Mendoza, 2007, p.79) Mendoza reports that the broader scope of the IHR is such that "introduces obligations at local, national and international levels, which in turn call for an analysis of the new Regulations." (Mendoza, p.79) The IHR is reported to empower member states and the WHO through clearing the collaborative channels with intergovernmental organizations and international bodies. (Mendoza,, paraphrased) The IHR provides a global platform uniquely suited for the "creation of interdisciplinary collaborative mechanisms that will facilitate the flow of information, technical and operational, between the multiple relevant actors of the new IHR system." (Mendoza, p. 79)

I. International Trade Law and Public Health

It is reported that international trade law has greatly contributed to the agenda of global public health. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1947 resulted in public health becoming a concern for trade relation as the GATT set out health measures that are trade restricting addressing the threat of spreading of diseases and a stronger interdependent bond was crated between international trade law and public health by WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). (Mendoza, 2007, paraphrased)

II. Partnering is Key in Global Health

Fingerhut (2012) states that partnering is being accomplished under the formation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Network of Collaborating Centers in Occupational Health. The Network is inclusive of WHO in addition to 68 Collaborating Centers (CCs) in Occupational Health and these are reported as being for the most part, occupational health agencies and university departments, the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA), the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) and the International Labor Organization (ILO). (Fingerhut, 2012, p.183)

There are 193 member countries of the UN that work on issues related to health, which are, issues that the Health Ministers of the member nations identify and endorse. Who provides leadership globally in relation to health matters for UN countries and serves to assist in the shaping of the health research agenda as well as in "setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends." (Fingerhut, 2007, p. 183)

The World Health Organization (WHO) passed two resolutions and the Objectives of the GPA set out in one of the Resolutions states the following goals:

(1) To devise and implement policy instruments on workers' health;

(2) To protect and promote health at the workplace;

(3) To improve the performance of and access to occupational health services;

(4) To provide and communicate evidence for action and practice; and (5) To incorporate workers' health into other policies. (Fingerhut, 2012, p.185)

III. Globalized Public Health

Veronique LaPaige states in the work entitled "Globalized public health." A transdisciplinary comprehensive framework for analyzing contemporary globalization's influences on the field of public health" that the present stage of globalization is representative of a double-edge sword and is a challenge that public health practitioners and health policymakers face with the first edge throwing "light on two constructs in the field of public health" and those being global health and globalized public health.

Stated as the second edge of the sword is "global governance" and the question that accompanies this issue is that of how public health regulations can be constructed that effectively respond to global and local complexities linked to the two constructs stated. LaPaige (2009) reports that the two constructs are such that demand the "development of norms that will assure sustained population-wide health improvement and these two constructs have their own conceptual tools and theoretical models that permit a better understanding of them." (LaPaige, 2009)

LaPaige (2009) introduces the "globalized public health" construct and states that globalized public health is at the same time both a theoretical model and a conceptual framework that is concerned with the "…transformation of the field of public health in the sociohistorical context of globalization." The research reported by LaPaige is reported as being fueled by "democracy and cosmopolitical values…[and to be such that is] profoundly anchored in the pragmatic approach to globalization, looking to "reconcile" the market and equity." (2009)