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DA8. Health and Globalization

Statement

  1. Do you think GMOs have a positive or negative impact on our health? Please justify your answer and offer examples.
  2. How does globalization impact health? Please offer examples based on your personal experience.
  3. How is technology influencing health care in your region (name your region)? Please provide specific examples.
  4. What type of technology would greatly assist the healthcare in your neighborhood (name your neighborhood)? Please justify your answer.

Answer

Introduction

Globalization involves moving people, goods, and ideas across borders; it is driven by technological advancements and has a significant impact on every aspect of life, including health as international organizations are taking greater roles in improving health outcomes globally (Global Health Then and Now, 2023).

The text will discuss the impact of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on health, the effects of globalization on health, how technology is influencing health care in the United Kingdom, and how it can be improved.

GMOs and Health

A GMO is any organism whose genes have been modified unnaturally, that is, artificially isolating the genes and modifying them through a complex process and then putting them back into the original species (Jimenez, 2016). Such a process happens naturally due to natural gene mutations, but mutations that happen through gene engineering are the only concern when discussing GMOs.

GMOs are a controversial topic, especially in the food industry; their positive effect may include improving farming productivity as most GMO crops available today were created to be resistant to specific pests, pesticides, diseases, or difficult environmental conditions; for example, over 90% of soybean, cotton, corn, and other crops are genetically modified (Jimenez, 2016).

The negative effects of GMOs on health may include altering the gastrointestinal function as it may not be able to digest GMOs properly, allergies, and the unpredictable nature of genetic modification which may lead to cancer or even creating new diseases in the long term (Ghimire et al., 2023).

There are some positive health benefits of GMOs due to their ability to produce more nutritious food, enhance environmental farming methods, and improve food sustainability (Jimenez, 2016). Thus, reducing the need for pesticides eliminates health risks associated with them, reducing hunger, and increasing immunity to diseases. GMOs also can be used to produce hormones and other medicines.

Globalization and Health

Globalization’s effect on health is a mix of both positive and negative impacts. Humans are now healthier and live longer than ever before due to globalization; deadly diseases such as smallpox and polio have been eradicated, and life medical technology has improved significantly (Global Health Then and Now, 2023).

The improvements in global health can be attributed to the positive effects of globalization on health, such as easier movement of ideas and experts allowing the spread of medical knowledge and technology, sharing health information and research, and improving health outcomes. The World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organizations have played a significant role in improving global health by providing vaccines, medicines, and health education to developing countries.

The negative effects may include that easier people movement means that infectious diseases can spread more quickly across borders, the rise of medicine or antibiotic resistance due to overuse or mutations, the increase of medicine prices -in some countries- due to trade rules, and the rise of non-communicable diseases due to unhealthy lifestyles and diets.

For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, international flights were the first to be stopped, and when the other measures were lifted, international flights were resumed with strict measures and forcible quarantine for travelers from high-risk countries.

Technology and Health Care in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom’s health system follows a socialized single-payer system where a national health care plan covers all citizens and residents (How Health Care Works Around the World, 2023). The National Health Service (NHS) is the main provider of health care in the UK, and it is funded by the government through taxes; all hospitals and clinics -even the private ones- are part of the NHS, where they get registered and paid for their services.

Technology has significantly improved health care in the UK; for example, the NHS has implemented electronic health records (EHRs) that allow patients to access their medical records online, book appointments with General Practitioners (GPs), request repeat prescriptions, and view test results. This allows doctors to know everything about the patient’s health history at any time.

The NHS prescription service is paperless, which means that the doctor requests the prescription online through NHS inner systems, and the patient can collect medicines from their designated pharmacy or have them delivered to their home.

Technology for Health Care in the United Kingdom

Many promising technologies in the field of healthcare such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, wearable devices, robotics, and nanotechnology can significantly improve healthcare in many countries including the United Kingdom (Hunimed, 2021).

Despite the advanced nature of the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom, it still faces many challenges such as staff shortages, long waiting times, and slow adoption of new technologies. Applying cutting-edge technologies can free up staff for more critical tasks and improve the quality of care provided to patients.

Applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the first screening interview can reduce the number of appointment bookings as most common and non-serious cases can be diagnosed and prescribed the right medicine through a self-service device set up in the clinic and powered by AI.

Wearable devices can be used to monitor patients’ health in real-time and alert the healthcare provider in case of an emergency. For example, diagnosing heart disease or diabetes requires multiple visits to a healthcare facility to do the tests, and later follow-up with the doctor; wearable devices can be distributed to patients at the first visit and collected in the follow-up visit reducing the number of visits and the time needed for diagnosis.

Conclusion

Insulin was the first medicine produced through genetic engineering (Jimenez, 2016); the debate on GMOs is ongoing, but I see that their positive effects on economic growth and health outweigh -by a huge margin- the negative effects.

Globalization has improved health outcomes globally, but it also has some negative impacts; the rise of non-communicable diseases due to unhealthy lifestyles and diets is the main challenge for future health systems.

The United Kingdom’s health system is one of the most advanced in the world; it is a socialized single-payer system funded by the government; but it still faces many challenges; applying cutting-edge technologies can significantly improve healthcare in the UK and other countries.

Word Count: 1018.

References