Globalization and Health, one of BioMed Central’s open access journals, has published
a series of three articles on “Globalization and social determinants of
health”. In the series, two Canadian researchers warn that the “asymmetrical”
nature of contemporary globalization may increase health disparities between
rich and poor.

Ronald Labonté and Ted
Schrecker, from the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Population Health,
focus on social determinants of health: broadly speaking, factors that affect
the chances people will have to lead healthy lives.  One of the key concerns identified is that the demands of
competing in a global economy may limit the “policy space” available to governments
wanting to reduce poverty and address other social conditions that undermine
health.

Labonté and Schrecker argue that
change is urgently needed in the policies of the industrialized countries that
dominate the international economy, in order to take account of health impacts
on the poorer majority of the world’s population living outside their borders.

The articles may be freely accessed via the links below:

1. Globalization and
   social determinants of health: Introduction and methodological background
2. Globalization and
   social determinants of health: The role of the global marketplace
3. Globalization and
   social determinants of health: Promoting health equity in global governance