Perspectives Summary (no personal reflection)

Analyses on the impact of globalization on health in different parts of the world may help develop insights into the complex processes of globalization. In Thailand, globalization trends have had direct health effects as well as indirect effects. Direct health effects include unequal access to medical care by different social groups, increasing problems of environmental pollution, rising new/ resurgence of old infections, and unhealthy lifestyles. These direct effects have been associated with an economic crisis in Asia, which has led to a rise in suicides, malnutrition, abandoned children, low birth weight, and a rise in deaths from preventable diseases (Perspectives: Globalization and Health Viewed from Three Parts of the World (2001). “Some health implications of globalization in Thailand.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 79 (9), 889-890). The United Kingdom, which was once seen as the model system, was became viewed as inefficient with increasing technologies. The movement from discrete national to international healthcare perspectives has elicited the UK to set globalization and health as priority areas for research and policy. (Perspectives: Globalization and Health Viewed from Three Parts of the World (2001). “Some health implications of globalization in the United Kingdom.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 79 (9), 889-890). In Kerala, India, the forces of globalization caused a paradigm shift to a capitalist model. Prior to this change, there was low wealth but relatively high average health statuses. Globalization has resulted in increasing inequality in Kerala, challenging the Kerala model of low cost health care (Perspectives: Globalization and Health Viewed from Three Parts of the World (2001). “Some health implications of globalization in Kerala, India.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 79 (9), 889-890). These particular case studies shed light on the complex impact globalization may have on particular regions of the world and emphasize how economic development affects health status through altered access to healthcare.