Running Header: GLOBALIZATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH

GLOBALIZATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH

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GLOBALIZATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Globalization is mostly associated with international trade between countries and

therefore most people tend to conceive globalization in terms of its economic characteristics.

However, the definition of globalization tends to be broad incorporating cultural integration,

religious integrations, education and most importantly the movement of people across countries.

Globalization has increasing challenged public health and public health policies, and practices

despite of the global increase in healthcare funding (Labonte et al., 2011).

Public health has been affected across several dimensions which include; information

flow, the spread of disease-causing pathogens, finance and locomotion human beings, both of

which affect public health. The impacts of globalization can be analyzed in terms of; the extent

of disease burden exerted on countries as a result of globalization and the health risks faced by

countries that emanate from globalization (Labonte et al., 2011).

One of the public health challenges that has been caused by globalization is the

increasing growth of the global diseases. Globalization has meant that people have to travel

more. Traditional global disease has been spread through activities such as the military

campaigns and religious pilgrimages which bring people from different parts of the world. The

increased number of business and trade related global trips and as well tourism, has meant that

people have to interact more.

While there have been other global diseases, there most accentuated and recent is the

COVID-19 pandemic. With the first case reported in Wuhan China on the 31st of December

2019, and the first disease outbreak new published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on

the 5th of January 2020, it took less than three months before the virus was declared a global

pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel corona virus a global

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pandemic on the 11th of March 2020 (WHO, 2020). Increased global interactions, business and

tourism travel increased the rate at which the virus was spread across countries.

The current pandemic does not however obscure the fact that there have been other

diseases though not with as many economic, social and political effects as the COVID-19 virus,

they are just as dangerous. The early years of this century was characterized by the outbreaks of

the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which was discovered earliest in February

2003 in Asia. The outbreak which lasted for approximately three months got to spread in over

twelve countries in Asia, North America, Europe, and South America (Labonte et al., 2011).

Other communicable and non-communicable diseases that have seen rapid spread thanks

to globalization include; tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

(MERS). The rate at which these diseases have been spread across countries have been

significantly influenced by the manner in which governments have responded. The infectious

characteristics of COVID-19 has pivoted the way government enforce public health policies

across the world. Nationwide lockdowns experienced across the world, were not a public health

policy enforced at least in recent history of humanity.

The public health problem that results from globalization, can also be tied to the

pollution, global warming and other industrial effects that have been brough about by

globalization. Globalization has led to increased industrial development increasing the rate of

environment pollution. Pollution is tied to so many diseases and deaths across the world. (Reed,

2016), in his article on the article on the New York Times highlighted the results of a study that

showed approximately 6.5 million people die of pollution related cases annually. Some of the

diseases that have resulted to deaths due to air pollution include; stroke, cancer of the lungs,

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chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and rampant among children are the acute lower

respiratory infections.

The competition that companies have to undergo operating on a global stage is also

higher. Companies today have to structure their operations to meet the global demands and

match the global competition. This may include subjecting the employees to longer hours of

work which has long-term health consequences. It is unfortunate that the health effects of

working for long hours is never adequately captured especially in the lower income countries.

To keep up with global price competition high-street clothe retailers have had to force

long work hours and poor working conditions on their employees in Bangladesh. In a research

that involved interviewing over 160 workers from the 44 textile factories in Dhaka Bangladesh,

it was revealed that they were exposed to physical assault, forced overtime, denial of maternity

leave among women and the workers were as well verbally abused (Burke, 2020). All these

conditions subjected to workers as companies’ pace to compete on a global stage have long-term

public health effects.

The other public health problem that has resulted from globalization and the resultant

globalization of diseases is the national burden that fall on the poor countries disproportionately.

The budget constraints that poor countries have to face as a result of the effects of the diseases is

high. Countries had to significantly make adjustments in their 2020 annual budgets and divest

way from infrastructural or manufacturing development towards health provision as a result of

the corona virus pandemic.

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References

Burke, J. (2020, July 10). Bangladesh garment workers suffer poor conditions two years after reform

vows. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/22/garment-workers-in-

bangladesh-still-suffering-two-years-after-factory-collapse

Labonte et al. (2011). The Growing Impact of Globalization for Health and Public

Health. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031210-101225

Reed, S. (2016, June 26). Study links 6.5 million deaths each year to air pollution. The New York

Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/27/business/energy-environment/study-links-6-5-

million-deaths-each-year-to-air-pollution.html

Timeline: WHO's COVID-19 response. (2020). WHO | World Health

Organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/interactive-

timeline?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6-SDBhCMARIsAGbI7UhXa9h2moTv9K0-

9Ja5Hbhu5_rlHLKmdIovvwgLsA0jJLbQU9HbFBAaAsusEALw_wcB#event-115