The Growing Impact of Globalization for Health and Public Health Practice

Abstract

In recent decades, public health policy and practice have been increasingly challenged by globalization, even as global financing for health has increased dramatically. This article discusses globalization and its health challenges from a vantage of political science, emphasizing increased global flows (of pathogens, information, trade, finance, and people) as driving, and driven by, global market integration. This integration requires a shift in public health thinking from a singular focus on international health (the higher disease burden in poor countries) to a more nuanced analysis of global health (in which health risks in both poor and rich countries are seen as having inherently global causes and consequences). Several globalization-related pathways to health exist, two key ones of which are described: globalized diseases and economic vulnerabilities. The article concludes with a call for national governments, especially those of wealthier nations, to take greater account of global health and its social determinants in all their foreign policies.

Global Family Medicine: A ‘UNIVERSAL’ Mnemonic

“…30 That we live, in the United States, in an increasingly pluralistic society, 31,32 that globalization has altered traditional patterns of goods and jobs, 33 that we must pay attention to clinical conditions only until recently encountered on the other side of globe, 34,35 and that we must face the looming specter of climate change are all evidence of this reality. 36,37 Learn Ultimately, the process of working in global family medicine is one of learning.…”

Collaborative competency in physiotherapy students: Implications for interprofessional education

“…[2,3] With the healthcare needs of the world becoming increasingly complex, new, sustainable and dynamic approaches to healthcare are necessary if we are to improve global health outcomes.…”

“…[2,3] With the healthcare needs of the world becoming increasingly complex, new, sustainable and dynamic approaches to healthcare are necessary if we are to improve global health outcomes.[4] The development of core competencies in health professions education, aligned with global health needs, [2] has been suggested as one way in which health outcomes may be improved. [1,2,5] However, professional education is struggling because of poor teamwork, as well as a mismatch between health professionals' competencies and the needs of the patient and the population.…”

“…[2,3] With the healthcare needs of the world becoming increasingly complex, new, sustainable and dynamic approaches to healthcare are necessary if we are to improve global health outcomes. [4] The development of core competencies in health professions education, aligned with global health needs, [2] has been suggested as one way in which health outcomes may be improved.…”

Illness and Death in the Universe

“…These global forces converge to bear on patterns of human health by historically unprecedented environmental and social transformations. 13,14 Thus, in many ways, modern human history has provided important health benefits and increased longevity in our lifespan, but in many other ways, it has exacerbated a clash between our biologic ancestry and our surroundings, leading to new health challenges. 14 My mother was one of those casualties trapped in an epidemiologic transition dominated by increasing rates of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.…”