[Globalization, international trade, and health equity]

Globalization and international trade are having an increasingly evident impact on the day-to-day duties of the health sector, and the phenomenon has aroused a great deal of interest among governments, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and the mass media. Up to this point the heated and polemical debate on the subject has seriously hindered objective discourse on the health implications of globalization and international trade. This piece examines the possible impact of the two processes on health in the Region of the Americas, in order to foster policies for equity that are adopted within the framework of public health in the Americas. The piece considers the relationships among globalization, trade, and health in general and then focuses on the special case of trade in health goods and services. The piece looks at the possible impact on health equity of the agreements for integration and free trade that are being negotiated in the Americas. The piece concludes with a summary of the activities that the Pan American Health Organization has been carrying out in this area.