TY - JOUR
T1 - Trade policy and public health
AU - Friel, Sharon
AU - Hattersley, Libby
AU - Townsend, Ruth
N1 - Includes bibliographical references.
PY - 2015/3
Y1 - 2015/3
N2 - Twenty-first-century trade policy is complex and affects society and population health in direct and indirect ways. Without doubt, trade policy influences the distribution of power, money, and resources between and within countries, which in turn affects the natural environment; people's daily living conditions; and the local availability, quality, affordability, and desirability of products (e.g., food, tobacco, alcohol, and health care); it also affects individuals' enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. In this article, we provide an overview of the modern global trade environment, illustrate the pathways between trade and health, and explore the emerging twenty-first-century trade policy landscape and its implications for health and health equity. We conclude with a call for more interdisciplinary research that embraces complexity theory and systems science as well as the political economy of health and that includes monitoring and evaluation of the impact of trade agreements on health.
AB - Twenty-first-century trade policy is complex and affects society and population health in direct and indirect ways. Without doubt, trade policy influences the distribution of power, money, and resources between and within countries, which in turn affects the natural environment; people's daily living conditions; and the local availability, quality, affordability, and desirability of products (e.g., food, tobacco, alcohol, and health care); it also affects individuals' enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. In this article, we provide an overview of the modern global trade environment, illustrate the pathways between trade and health, and explore the emerging twenty-first-century trade policy landscape and its implications for health and health equity. We conclude with a call for more interdisciplinary research that embraces complexity theory and systems science as well as the political economy of health and that includes monitoring and evaluation of the impact of trade agreements on health.
KW - Trade agreements
KW - Unhealthy commodities
KW - Health services
KW - Working conditions
KW - Health inequities
U2 - 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122739
DO - 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122739
M3 - Article
C2 - 25494052
VL - 36
SP - 325
EP - 344
JO - Annual Review of Public Health
JF - Annual Review of Public Health
SN - 0163-7525
ER -