Impact of Globalization on Infectious Disease Emergence and Control, The

This report summarises the working group discussion on the influence of globalisation on the emergence and control of infectious diseases from the Forum on Microbial Threats held April 16-17 2002. The workshop explored the impact of increasingly integrated trade, economic development, human movement, and cultural exchange on patterns of disease emergence; identified opportunities for countering the effects of globalisation on infectious diseases; examined the scientific evidence supporting current and potential global strategies; and considered newly available response methods and tools available for use by private industry, public health agencies, regulatory agencies, policy makers, and academic researchers.

Participants identified four key components of a newer approach to infectious disease control:

• A global mind-set
• Long-term collaborations, particularly public-private partnerships, among states, interstate and regional orgnaisations, non-governmental organisations, multinational corporations, and various other non-state actors
• Larger, more flexible financial consortiums, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
• The concept of public goods, especially with regard to product development and the dissemination of knowledge

Chapters 1 and 2 describe how globalising forces have affected the prevention and control of infectious disease. Chapter 3 describes new opportunities for enhancing infectious disease control, including global surveillance, technological advances in information dissemination (the internet) to the growing number of infectious disease and public health training programmes. Chapter 4 summarises key components of the new global health framework, including the role of public-private partnerships, the role of international law, and the role of social sciences in understanding and studying emerging infectious diseases.