Abstract
Globalization – the increasing interconnections between people, economies, and societies – is inextricably interlaced with the health of populations worldwide. The speed and reach of microbes and unhealthy commodities across the globe are challenging the global fight against infectious disease and chronic noncommunicable diseases, with important implications for health equity. Moreover, globalization-linked challenges are becoming increasingly interwoven, portending a calculus of crises. This chapter describes the harmful effects of unfettered operations of transnational and national corporations on chronic and noncommunicable diseases as well as reviews early evidence of the globalization-related drivers and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter concludes by heeding the warnings of political scientists regarding the destructive forces of multiple global crises on global health, which have heightened challenges to one of the most basic human needs – the capability to breathe. There is a need for both greater investment in “globalization and health studies” and the fomenting of a globalized resistance that recognizes the intersection of the struggles of peoples.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akiyama MJ, Spaulding A, Rich J (2020) Flattening the curve for incarcerated populations — Covid-19 in jails and prisons. N Engl J Med 382:2075–2077
Banerjee D, Bhattacharya P (2020) The hidden vulnerability of homelessness in the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives from India. Int J. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020922890
Bayer L (2020) Hungary replaces rule by decree with ‘state of medical crisis’. Politico, June 18, 2020. Available online: https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-replaces-rule-by-decree-controversial-state-of-medical-crisis/. Accessed 17 June 2020
Bruine De Bruin W, Fischhoff B, Brilliant L, Caruso D (2006) Expert judgments of pandemic influenza risks. Glob Public Health 1:179–194
Cantor N (2001) In the wake of the plague: the black death and the world it made. HarperCollins, New York
Case A, Deaton A (2020) Deaths of despair and the future of capitalism. Princeton University Press, New Jersey
Caulfield T, Marcon A, Murdoch B, Brown J, Perrault S, Jarry J et al (2019) Health misinformation and the power of narrative messaging in the public sphere. Canadian Journal of Bioethics/Revue canadienne de bioéthique 2(2):52–60
Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2008) Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. WHO, Geneva
Davis A (2016) Freedom is a constant struggle. Haymarket Books, Chicago
Feachem R (2001) Globalisation is good for your health, mostly. BMJ 323:504–506
Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) Canada, Palmater P (2020) Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on indigenous women and girls in Canada. FAFIA Canada, Ottawa. Available online: https://pampalmater.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/P.-Palmater-FAFIA-Submission-COVID19-Impacts-on-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-in-Canada-June-19-2020-final.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept 2020
Foreign Policy, The COVID-19 Global Response Index. Updated September 4 2020. Available online: https://globalresponseindex.foreignpolicy.com/. Accessed 21 Sept 2020
Friel S, Hattersley L, Townsend R (2015) Trade policy and health. Annu Rev Public Health 36:325–344
Garrett L (2019) The world knows an apocalyptic pandemic is coming: but nobody is interested in doing anything about it. Foreign Policy.com. Available online: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/09/20/the-world-knows-an-apocalyptic-pandemic-is-coming/. Accessed 17 June 2020
GBD 2016 Alcohol and Drug Use Collaborators (2018) The global burden of disease attributable to alcohol and drug use in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet 5:987–1012
Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (2019) A world at risk: annual report on global preparedness for health emergencies. World Health Organization, Geneva
Gómez E (2019) Coca-cola’s political and policy influence in Mexico: understanding the role of institutions, interests and divided society. Health Policy Plan 34:520–528
Greenhalgh T, Knight M, A’Court C, Buxton M, Husain L (2020) Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care. BMJ 370:m3026. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3026
Harvey D (2005) A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hastings G (2012) Why corporate power is a public health priority. BMJ 345:e5124. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e5124
Hawkes C (2006) Uneven dietary development: linking the policies and processes of globalization with the nutrition transition, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. Global Health 2:4. https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-8603-2-4
Indian Express. COVID-19 effect: relaxation in labour laws exemption to cos in various states draw trade union ire. Indian express. May 8 2020 Available online: https://indianexpress.com/article/business/covid-19-effect-relaxation-in-labour-laws-exemptions-to-firms-in-various-states-draw-trade-union-ire-6399183/. Accessed 9 May 2020
International Organization for Migration World Migration Report 2020. Geneva: International Organization for Migration; 2019
Internet World Stats (n.d.) Usage and population statistics. Available online: https://www.internetworldstats.com/africa.htm. Accessed 17 June 2020
Jozaghi E, Maynard R, Hemm D, Marsh S (2020) COVID-19 and people who use drugs: a call for action. Can J Public Health 111:401–402
Kaplan H, Trumble B, Stieglitz J, Mendez Mamany R, Gutierrez Cayuba M, Maito Moye L (2020) Voluntary collective isolation as a best response to COVID-19 for indigenous populations? A case study and protocol from the Bolivian Amazon. Lancet 395:1727–1734
Labonté R (2019) Trade, investment and public health: compiling the evidence, assembling the arguments. Glob Health 15(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12090
Labonté R, Schrecker T (2007) Globalization and social determinants of health: introduction and methodological background (part 1 of 3). Glob Health 3(5):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-8603-3-5
Labonté R, Mohindra K, Lencucha R (2011a) Framing international trade and chronic disease. Glob Health 7:21. https://doi.org/10.1186/744-8603-7-2176
Labonté R, Mohindra K, Schrecker T (2011b) The growing impact of globalization for health and public health practice. Annu Rev Public Health 32:263–283
Lapavitsas C (2013) The financialization of capitalism: ‘profiting without producing’. City 17:792–805
Lum T, Shi C, Wong G, Wong K (2020) COVID-19 and long-term care policy for older people in Hong Kong. J Aging Soc Policy 32:373–379
Moodie R, Stuckler D, Monteiro C, Sheron N, Neal B, Thamarangsi T et al (2013) Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed food and drink industries. Lancet 381:670–679
Nash J (2007) Consuming interests: water, rum, and coca-cola from ritual propitiation to corporate expropriation in highland Chiapas. Cult Anthropol 22:621–639
Ondoa P, Kebede Y, Loembe MM, Bhiman J, Tessema K, Sow A et al (2020) COVID-19 testing in Africa: lessons learnt. Lancet Microbe 1:e103–e104
Orata FD, Keim P, Boucher Y (2014) The 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti: how science solved a controversy. PLoS Pathog 10(4):e1003967. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003967
Power T, Wilson D, Tahinga N, Best O, Brockie T, Bearskin L et al (2020) COVID-19 and indigenous peoples: an imperative for action. J Clin Nurs 29:2737–2741
Public Health Agency of Canada (2006) The Canadian plan for the health sector. Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa
Rodin J, de Ferranti D (2012) Universal health coverage: the third health transition? Lancet 380:861–862
Sánchez A, Simas L, Diuana V, Larouze B (2020) COVID-19 in prisons: an impossible challenge for public health? Cad Saúde Pública 36(5):e00083520
Sassen S (2014) Expulsions: brutality and complexity in the global economy. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Schrecker T (2012) Multiple crises and global health: new and necessary frontiers of health politics. Glob Public Health 7(6):557–573
Shah S (2016) Pandemic: tracking contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and beyond. New York: Sarah Crichton Books
Shen S (2020) Hong Kong and the national security law: why now? The Diplomat, June 15, 2020. Available online: https://thediplomat.com/2020/06/hong-kong-and-the-national-security-law-why-now/. Accessed 17 June
Simpson P, Butler T (2020) Covid-19, prison crowding, and release policies. BMJ 369:m1551. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1551
Trask H-K (1993) From a native daughter. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu
Wang M, Jolly A (2004) Changing virulence of the SARS virus: the epidemiological evidence. Bull World Health Organ 82:547–548
WHO (2020a) Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention. WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen
WHO (2020b) World health statistics 2020: monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development goals. Geneva: WHO
Williams E (1944) Capitalism & slavery. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill
Wood L, Davies A, Khan Z (2020) COVID-19 precautions: easier said than done when patients are homeless. Med J Aust 212(8):384–384.e1
Zimmerman C, Kiss L, Hossain M (2011) Migration and health: a framework for 21st policy making. PLoS Med 8(5):e1001034. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001034//
Zimmet P (2000) Globalization, coca-colonization and the chronic disease epidemic: can the doomsday scenario be averted? J Intern Med 247:301–310
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Editors and the World Health Organization
About this entry
Cite this entry
Mohindra, K.S. (2021). Globalization and Global Health. In: Haring, R., Kickbusch, I., Ganten, D., Moeti, M. (eds) Handbook of Global Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05325-3_2-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05325-3_2-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05325-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05325-3
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences