Essay On Globalization And Public Health

Globalization and Public Health It is apparent that the flow of people, food, and manufactured goods can have many negative impacts on public health worldwide. The spread of infectious diseases such as the West Nile Virus and H1N1 – better known as the “swine flu” – have shown us that this ease of transport comes with a price. However, it is difficult to say if we should take measures to reduce the exchanges that have brought our world closer and closer together. We have grown so used to having things so connected and available that reducing this would regress the world as we know it. While there may be less and far slower spreads of the disease, I believe that one way or another, it would still happen. Therefore, cutting back on the flow of people, food, and manufactured goods wouldn’t eliminate the problem, just slow down the progress. This then becomes a discussion of the costs and benefits of reducing trade (The Levin Institute, n.d.). Obviously, it would be a huge global loss of revenue to reduce this flow.

One solution would be raising the standards of health regulations in all countries that export goods. A major catalyst for disease diaspora is the cultivation of unhealthy environments which could be found in living quarters and especially food production. This would be a feat indeed I do admit. An exorbitant amount of funding would be necessary to carry out this standard. However, this would solve the main problem. Diseases are often borne in unsanitary conditions. If the health standards were enforced and people were fined for violations, I believe we would see an increase in healthy environments and a marked reduction in the spread of disease. Another solution would be creating a mandatory checkpoint in which products or persons would go through an inspection before traveling. Hopefully, at least some diseases could be spotted early enough to be stopped or