Globalization

Globalization is a vast term. It can be defined as the extension of the products, technology,
information and also the jobs opportunities across the borders. Due to which it ultimately
enhances the lives of the people and also increase the easy access to the good and services.

Spread of Disease and epidemics

There is no doubt that globalization become maximum in this contemporary world. As it has
many benefits i.e. it provides huge probability that include the response to any kind of
catastrophes or the exchange of information. But with passage of time it gave birth to new
concerns that include the quick spread of disease in a country. As globalization enables the
instant movement of people it both has positive and negative impacts as well. What happens
due to this that people are become more
prone to the infectious disease.

Basically, globalization impact the

health of the people in various ways.
Firstly, due to economic
interdependence among countries it
causes the diseases to spread rapidly
at a global level. Perhaps there are
two key elements to the global threat
that in fact arise the infectious stems directly from the globalization. The first element is the
maximum international travel and second element involves the global nature of food sales and
processing. Moreover, diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis these
diseases highlight few infections that ultimately spread to the new regions through the process
of trade and the travel and became viral over there causing numerous deaths of the people.
There are five most prominent factors for the transmission of the disease which are airborne,
waterborne, bloodborne, through direct contact and through the vector (insects or some other
creatures that carry the germs from one species to the other one. Those areas or piece of land
where there was no life or remain isolated, human beings start to travel in those areas
according to the scientist’s diseases by all these five transmission modes. (Aust, 2008)

Technology, communication and traveling made the lives of people an easy one. The
transportation enables the people and various products to travel long distances in few hours.
However, it also opens the airways to the transcontinental movement of the infectious disease
vectors, West Nile Virus is one of the examples. Basically, this very disease reached the USA
through the mosquitoes. They traveled through the ocean by riding in the plane wheel wells
and in 1990s reached the New York City. So, draw back is that different people travel in
airplanes, ships due to which people contract a disease and they transmit this to their family
members, friends and so on the cycle begins. As a matter of fact, the evolution of disease is
rapid that with vaccines there is still a difficulty to provide the full immunity to many diseases.
Perhaps to find the vaccines for some disease remain difficult even in this modern world, as
without the vaccines this world remains vulnerable to the many infectious diseases.

Spread of diseases is presenting a huge threat in the global world. The swine flu is a new
disease emerge in Pakistan. The first case came in Karachi. Later on, the province Punjab too
came under threat and cases from Multan, Islamabad and other cities start to emerge in 2018.
This swine flu came from India in to the Pakistan and it spread to man to man and is contagious.
The swine flu earlier emerge in Mexico from where it goes to USA. What happened is that
travelers to and from the Mexico got infected by the virus while traveling home or to other
parts of the World which ultimately spread the disease in a week. It also killed millions in USA
after WWI. Further, globalization has maximized the spread infectious diseases from the South
to the North. Due to which it also contributes in the risk of non-communicable diseases by
transmitting of the culture and behavior especially in developing countries.

Before the advancement when civilized societies did not form people live in various tribes and
groups. Perhaps contact was difficult to maintain with other people living in far places.
Therefore, if one member of the group equipped with the deadly virus than it means that only
those members of the tribe were more prone to that virus only. But things change gradually. As
one sick person can cause sufferings to many and such effect where hundreds to thousands or
more people can become infected. As population density increased and thus permit many
people to become infected but a person with a deadly disease can travel via train, plain or
automobile and spread the disease wherever he goes that otherwise have never been exposed
to it. However, measles too is a contagious virus which spread with the contact of infected oral
or the nasal fluids. A person having measles when coughs it simultaneously release several tiny
particles in air. Immigrants spread the disease in late 1660s.

However, the people migrate from their native city to other due to numerous reasons. As big
cities have cultivated the infections i.e. respiratory, gastrointestinal and skin infection become
common in urban areas. Moreover, poor access to health care situation stimulate the spread of
the infection. The food supply to other countries spread the disease caused by the bacteria
such as E. coli. US import the food like fish, fruits and vegetables which demonstrates that the
food is contaminated during harvesting, processing or the transport earlier before the food
itself reach to the global level market. The people of underdeveloped countries bear more than
one disease. As in such country poverty is prevailing which gave birth to many diseases
including HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. They are causing deaths among the community.
Basically, when there is negligence among the authorities to start the disease prevention efforts
i.e. childhood vaccinations, in such scenario disease spread rapidly in the population. Due to
natural disasters spread of disease increase. The refugees live in unsafe or poorly conditions
that ultimately intensify the spread of disease. For example, in African the rural to urban
migration takes place which paved the way for the increased HIV transmission among the
people. (Lee, 2006)

Polio is too a viral infection which cause a paralysis and leads towards a death of a person. This
viral infection spread from person to person. As WHO main focus is to completely eradicate it
from the world. If they became successful it will be a third in the list after small pox and the
rinderpest. The three countries who even today are not able to stop the polio are Pakistan,
Nigeria and Afghanistan. The US lost more than 60,000 people due to this virus. Later in 1970
they developed a vaccine to treat it and successfully halt it. In 2019 64 cases of polio emerge in
Pakistan. As Afghanistan is a neighboring country of Pakistan which too is creating hurdles to
some extent in polio cases. Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was established by the
international actors in 1988. Basically, it is the partnership of governments, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), corporate partners and the development banks. GPEI is head by the
WHO, UNICEF, Centers for disease control and prevention CDC.

In 2012 in India and in 2006 in Bangladesh both countries were declared as the polio free
countries. Furthermore, Nigeria refused to vaccine at that particular time it was remain only in
six countries. As a result, it got spread to the 16 more countries including Chad which was
announced as the polio free country which GPEI battle this successfully. In 2014 Pakistan
especially KPK and FATA were found huge number were polio cases. The militant groups attack
the team of polio. The CPEI narrate that the situation in Pakistan is disaster one and it is further
providing risks of spread to its neighboring countries. In Pakistan there was the element of
mistrust towards the west and its program. Militant groups in Nigeria killed 10 workers of the
polio team. But in 2019 there is a significant downfall in polio cases due to continuous efforts of
the oral polio vaccine. (Renwick, 2017)

Conclusion
The term globalization is a broad one. Humans, animals, and food are moving around the world
more frequently and more easily than ever before—and carrying disease causing agents with
them. In today's globalized world, disease can spread quickly and is no longer contained to
isolated geographical areas. Perhaps, engaging with the globalization debate is only the starting
point. Adding informed voices, backed by sound evidence, about the value of promoting and
protecting human health will help move the debate forward at a time when it is much needed.

References
Aust, M. (2008). The Impact of Globalization. The National Press.

Lee, K. (2006). Globalisation: what is it and how does it affect health? Current Issues, 6.
Renwick, D. (2017). Global Efforts to Eradicate Polio. Foreign Affairs, 45.