The Global Context of Health Session aims To

Transcript:The Global Context of Health Session aims To:
The Global Context of Health Session aims To demonstrate how the global context influences individual health. To demonstrate how inequality on a global scale affects and determines health. To illustrate how globalization impacts upon health in a number of contradictory ways. Why is global health important? Health is bound up in global relationships; the global context in which we are located influences our health. The notion that we live in a global society is supported by evidence showing that trends and relationships exist between health and well-being in many societies across the globe. There are a number of health problems and issues that require tackling on a global scale, hence the need for global solutions. Despite this, there are ongoing debates about how to define global health. Kickbush (2006) has argued that global health can be defined as encompassing health issues which go beyond the boundaries of the national and therefore need global action. Global health challenges There are many global health challenges reported in the literature. Lists of grand challenges have also been created which include HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and lack of resources (Grand Challenges in Global Health 2012). A United Nations Commission set up in 1999, found that the disproportionate disease burden experienced by lower-income countries was a massive threat to global wealth and security (Brundtland, 2003), and that millions of poor people die from preventable and treatable conditions simply because of their societal position (Sachs, 2001). More recent data illustrates the same trends (WHO 2016). Globalization Globalization is the increased social, economic and political interconnectedness of the world, and it comprises many different elements (see www.globalsociology.pbworks.com): Globalization involves a set of processes associated with social change Globalization involves a process of the expansion and extension of human activities across the globe Globalization involves a process of the speeding up of human activities The idea of an interconnected global society raises several questions about health, especially as many more health issues are now being conceptualized as ‘global’ and therefore in need of global solutions Debates continue in relation to whether globalization is good or bad for health Examples of how globalization impacts upon health Lee (1998) argues that globalization impacts upon health in a variety of ways, such as through the extension of reach for infectious diseases and changing disease patterns linked to unhealthy lifestyles. Martens et al (2010) argue that globalization is good for health because more globalized