Responses to Globalization: Rethinking Health and Equity

THIS IS A special issue of the journal of the Society for International Development (SID) which has a series of articles that are the result of a conference organised by the World Health Organisation, SID and the Rockefeller Foundation as a collaborative effort. It is an attempt to discuss the impacts of globalisation on equity and health, and the trends currently emerging in the modern world. It is a diverse and rich selection of articles, although greatly edited for the purpose of the publication.

The journal starts with a conceptual overview of globalisation and public health, and then moves to take up four crosscutting themes. These are: governance issues; negotiating new health systems among market, state and civil society actors; the challenges of poverty, health and sustainable development, particularly communicable diseases and threats to global safety; and TRIPs, pharmaceuticals and the new international division of labour. The final section is devoted to case studies that qualify the impact of globalisation on different communities. A Who’s Who of contributors is given at the end, with contact details.