The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #45362

Ellen R Shaffer, PhD, UCSF, 98 Seal Rock Drive, San Francisco, CA 94121 and Meredith P. Fort, University of Washington, 1215 Third Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, 206-285-1840, ershaffer@earthlink.net.

International trade negotiations proceed on the assumption that liberalization of national economic policies will benefit the population. Popular opposition has arisen to certain aspects of trade agreements that give corporations priority over public health, most notably rules regarding the production and distribution of pharmaceutical treatments for AIDS. Questions regarding the appropriate degree of privatization of a range of services related to public health are being debated in the policy arena, including ownership of and access to health care services, as well as food safety, water, tobacco and injury control policies, and establishment of professional standards. Both developed and developing nations are affected. The presentation will review major developments in international trade negotiations addressing public health and related services during 2002.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn how international economic developments, and trade agreements, relate to democratic decision-making about the public's health. They will be able to discuss how diverse aspects of public health, ranging from access to pharmaceuticals and tobacco, to injury control methods, can be threatened or enhanced depending on relative rights ceded to corporations and governments.

Keywords: Health Care Politics, International Public Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.