Global Trade and Public Health

Abstract

Global trade and international trade agreements have transformed the capacity of governments to monitor and to protect public health, to regulate occupational and environmental health conditions and food products, and to ensure affordable access to medications. Proposals under negotiation for the World Trade Organization's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the regional Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement cover a wide range of health services, health facilities, clinician licensing, water and sanitation services, and tobacco and alcohol distribution services. Public health professionals and organizations rarely participate in trade negotiations or in resolution of trade disputes. The linkages among global trade, international trade agreements, and public health deserve more attention than they have received to date.

Trade and investment liberalization and Asia¿s noncommunicable disease epidemic: a synthesis of data and existing literature

“…The GATT rules were also greatly expanded beyond trade in goods to include 'behind-the-border' issues such as intellectual property rights, trade in services, competition policy and investment measures. We refer the reader to comprehensive reviews of the health implications of the various WTO agreements [14,[94][95][96].…”

Comércio internacional de serviços e complexo industrial da saúde: implicações para os sistemas nacionais de saúde

“…Inclui também serviços financeiros de seguros de saúde e acidentes; serviços de educação, pesquisa e desenvolvimento em saúde; informá-tica -todos com desdobramentos possíveis para a saúde -e a categoria genérica "serviços de distribuição" que coloca a distribuição de medicamentos e produtos, e equipamentos médicos e terapêuticos sob o escopo potencial do GATS 43 . Numa perspectiva ampliada de saúde pública, o GATS tem também impactos potenciais sobre outras questões ligadas à saúde, como a distribuição de tabaco, qualidade da água e proteção ambiental 2 .…”

“…A discussão sobre as relações entre saúde e comércio não é nova e ganhou projeção recentemente no Brasil com o papel destacado do país na negociação dos anti-retrovirais no âmbito do Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 1,2 . O surgimento do General Agreeement on Trade in Services (GATS) 6 , em 1995, integra a agenda de abertura das economias nacionais.…”

Intellectual property and access to medicines: an analysis of legislation in Central America

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In recent years, this discussion has often centred on the impact of free trade agreements with the United States of America (USA) that contain elevated protection for pharmaceutical IP. Typically, views are deeply polarized: some decry the free trade agreements' provisions as inevitably disastrous for public health [8][9][10][11][12][13] while others argue that IP protection does not constitute a significant obstacle to access to medicines.…”