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Health Promotion International, Vol 13, 245-256, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
R Labonte
Poverty, other forms of social inequality and human impacts on the
environment are increasingly recognized as important, perhaps fundamental,
health determinants. These determinants, in turn, are largely conditioned
and constrained by economic practices, and by government legislation that
regulates such practices or seeks to mitigate inequalities that arise from
them. Over the past two decades the ability of national governments to
intervene in economic practices has been reduced by two interrelated
phenomena: the dominance of a neoliberal economic orthodoxy, which
emphasizes free (unregulated) markets and a 'minimal' welfare state, and
the growth in regional and global free trade and investment agreements.
There is mounting evidence that policies based on neoliberal economic
theory, including free trade/investment agreements, may seriously undermine
public health by increasing social inequalities, depleting natural
resources and increasing environmental pollution. This evidence has sparked
a call among many public interest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
policy 'think tanks' for appending strong 'social clauses' to global trade
and investment agreements to ensure that such agreements are socially just
and environmentally sustainable. This paper proposes creation of a strong
public health lobby, both nationally and internationally, to join with
other public interest NGOs in the social clause campaign. It begins by
defining and critiquing some of the basic tenets of neoliberal economic
orthodoxy which underpin the push towards global free trade and investment
agreements. It then describes the current status of these agreements, and
provides examples of how such agreements might imperil public health. The
paper then discusses the social clause initiative, and concludes by
advancing a proposal for a public health lobby presence at those fora where
trade and investment agreements are negotiated and
monitored.Keywords: globalization; health
determinants; healthy public policy; public health
ARTICLES
Healthy public policy and the World Trade Organization a proposal for an international health presence in future world trade/investment talks
Communitas Consulting, 29 Jorene Drive, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7M 3X5
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