Globalization: Toward a New Framework for Public Health

Current conceptualizations of the relationship between globalization and health have been hampered by incomplete or unsystematic theorization of the processes that constitute global change. This paper reviews the major theoretical approaches to globalization and their application to global health trends. The theoretical grounding for global spread of modern institutions, as developed by Anthony Giddens and others, is used to organize broad and diverse health issues, including continued chronic malnutrition in many parts of the world, widening disparities in health between social classes, international trade regulatory issues related to access to pharmaceuticals, death and injury due to anti-personnel land mines, and the global spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Questions are raised about the current direction of globalization and its consequences for health.