Trade Agreements & the Healthcare Industry

QUESTION

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 3
Lesson.
Minimum of 2 scholarly sources

Instructions

The various trade organizations and agreements discussed in the textbook and lessons affect a variety of industries, including healthcare. Choose an aspect of healthcare you would like to research. Some example might include medical devices, information technology, pharmaceuticals, public health, etc. Find at least two articles in the Chamberlain library that discuss your research topic and the effect of at least one global trade organization/agreement.

Write a 1.5 – 2 page essay explaining how the global marketplace affects your chosen topic. Your essay should include a summary of the trade agreement or organization chosen as well as the affects (both positive and negative) that agreement/organization has had on your given topic.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

Length: 1.5 – 2 pages (not including title page or references page)
1-inch margins
Double spaced
12-point Times New Roman font
Title page
References page (minimum of 2 scholarly sources)

ANSWER

Trade Agreements and The Healthcare Industry: How the Global Marketplace Affects Public Health

The public health criterion is no longer a concern solely for healthcare and related organizations but also for commercial activities. The terminology involving medical tourism is on the rise as the global marketplace advances relations with each other. Looking at how concern for public health impacts not only the health of the people but that of the transnational corporations, it calls for a correlation and collaboration meant to cater to healthcare and safety. For instance, the World Trade Organization (WTO) sought to include a criterion on public health and collaborate with the World Health Organization to address issues related to trade and health and how the two aspects meet and affect each other. The implications and outcomes were different as opinions arose on the agreement being subordinate to abuse of economic power.

Although more authors have discussed how WTO is involved in public health, Aventin (2000) argues that the WTO agreement favors commercial regulations implementation over public health. In their objectives, WTO seeks to raise the living standards, ensure full employment and steady growth of income volume and contribute to effective demand. Moreover, WTO aims to expand the production and trade of goods and services. Of these objectives, none seems to align with the public health objectives.

To approach the relationship between trade agreements and public health, recognizing the impact of each one of the activities on the other is crucial. Labonté (2019) associates trade-related economic growth with negative environmental externalities like climate change and depletion of resources. The outcome of these externalities is already known, creating other sectors like attempting to address them. Although this linkage visibly seems direct, Labonté (2019) regards it as contributing indirectly to the now-increasing public health concerns. Nonetheless, globalization is as advantageous to businesses but a challenge to public health.

According to Smith (2006), trade negotiations are the realm of the trade, finance, and foreign affairs concerned parties while alienating health professionals. Thus, it calls for public health professionals to engage in trade organizations and treaty issues. Aventin (2000) wrote about the involvement of public health in trade agreements as an object of negotiation. Any liberalization to operate without concern for participation in the public health of the host countries for global businesses, as argued by the WHO, will affect the poorest countries’ populations. Since WHO has the mandate to prioritize public health in trade agreements, WTO’s decision-making process is relegating WHO’s mandate (Aventin, 2000). As Waterman and Stolp (2004) write, in the absence of a carefully negotiated public health agreement between governments, advances in public health will likely lag. For instance, in the North America free trade agreement, there should be carefully negotiated public agreements between the governments involved to lift barriers related to administration and legal operations and utilize resources to ensure public health operations are in motion.

The more the world moves towards strengthening economic activities, international rules safeguarding trading are becoming vintage. Perhaps, the concern that trade relations prevented conflicts during the war period that would endanger their citizens has diminished, while the real worry about concerns like pandemics seems to be independent of the role of trade relations. Still, aspects like food availability, health, and environmental concerns have been moved to individual governments with the notion that they are likely to interfere with trade relations. For instance, the WTO, in its collaboration, ensures that the public health concerns of a country do not extend beyond exploitation through new laws and regulations.

No matter how it seems, Labonté (2019) suggests that there is nothing unhealthy about international trade intrinsically. Labonté reinforces that whether the trade investment will enhance or damage health outcomes related to social, economic, or regulatory changes, the determining factors will depend on the specific and binding agreements contained within. Still, trade relations enhance a country’s economy through taxes and participation indirectly in other aspects, which can contribute to the availability of funds for the country to allocate to improving the public health sector.

References

Aventin. (2000). Trade Agreements And Public Health: Role Of WHO. The Lancet (British Edition), 355(9203), 580–580. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)73235-9

Labonté, R. (2019). Trade, Investment, And Public Health: Compiling The Evidence, Assembling The Arguments. Globalization and Health, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0425-y

Smith R. D. (2006). Trade and Public Health: Facing the Challenges of Globalisation. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 60(8), 650–651. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2005.042648

Waterman, S. & Stolp, C. (2004). The North American Free Trade Agreement And Public Health At The Us–Mexico Border. American Journal of Public Health, 94(7), 1077. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.94.7.1077