142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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International trade and Public Health: An analysis of public comments on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 8:50 AM - 9:10 AM

Hadii M. Mamudu, PhD, MPA , Department of Health Services Management and Policy, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
Gary Maynard, PhD in Sociology , Sociology, Anthropology and Geography, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN
Sreenivas P. Veeranki, MBBS, DrPH, MPH , Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
David Kioko, MPH Candidate , Department of Health Services Management and Policy, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University, Johnson, TN
Rafie Boghozian, MBA , College of Nursing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
Chika Ozodiegwu, MPH , Community and Behavioral Health, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: In late 2009, 12 countries including the US, initiated negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). This which will create the largest free trade area in the world that will impact public health policy. From 2009 to 2013, the US Trade Representative (USTR) solicited public comments on the TPP. This paper aims to analyze these comments to identify key stakeholders and their arguments to inform ongoing negotiations and trade-health issues in international governance.

Methods: Publicly available comments at USTR were imported into NVivo 10. Researchers did line-by-line coding of these comments to identify themes. The themes identified in the individual comments were then merged into larger conceptual themes and we report descriptive statistics involving these themes. 

Results: Of the 978 comments, 955 were from nongovernmental entities (92% by business groups, 7% by public health and environmental groups, and 1% by individuals). About 91% of comments were strongly/somewhat in favor of the TPP and 9% somewhat/strongly opposed it. While the vast majority of those that supported the TPP were business entities 98%, those that opposed it were primarily public health and environmental groups. The central arguments of those that supported the TPP were related to economic development and those that opposed it were concerned with health and environmental issues.

Conclusion: The voice of public health groups was drowned out of the debate by business entities. Therefore, it is essential that the public health community worldwide channel resources in support of trade-related issues and be actively involved in such negotiations.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Public health or related education
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the Trans-Pacific Partnership for Public Health Audience Analyze the public comments submitted to the United States Trade Representative on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Provide the public health community information on the necessity to learn the international trade language and to be involved in international trade-related issues

Keyword(s): Public Health Policy, Public Health Movements

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an Assistant Professor of Public Health and do research on tobacco use and control, including trade-related issues that affect health policy and governance.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4075.0: Public Health and the Transpacific Partnership Agreement