Introduction
Health care services especially telemedicine opens doors for trading in the international domain which even the less developed countries can leverage to fight the multiple-menace of poor health, poverty, and productivity loss. Poor health does no good to the eradication of poverty and also cuts down the overall productivity of a nation on account of the man-days lost. This is the realization that saw the World Health Organization (WHO) emerging as one of the frontline facilitator, initiator and a partner in international health care services and trades (UNCTAD-WHO, 1998). This chapter runs through the major global health policy and trade initiatives launched under the auspices of the WHO.
WHO’s Role in Global Health Services
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a UN specialized agency, which aims for the attainment of the highest possible standards of health and well-being by all peoples of the world (WHO, 2003). According to the WHO’s statement in 2005 in the 2005 ministerial conference, “ WHO works on the relationship between international trade and health with special focus on-analysis & research to inform policy and practice; development of tools & training to build capacity in the Member States to fully understand the public health implications of multilateral trade agreements; and assistance to ministries of health to provide trade, finance, and foreign affairs ministries with the information needed for multilateral trade negotiations” (WHO, 2005).
WHO has been providing leadership and coordination inputs for the upliftment of human health throughout the world since 1948. This organization helps countries by providing a unique platform for building consensus on global health issues and problems between different countries, assists in the development and implementation of health care strategies and programs, and also establishes standards and guidelines on health concerning matters like vaccines, food safety, and other issues (Abelin Theo et al., 2004). Some of the world’s best public health and disease control initiatives have been steered by the WHO like- smallpox eradication campaign (1977), the Global polio eradication program, the recent battle against SARS, etc.
As mentioned earlier, telemedicine does not confront any major physical or geographical barriers however the varying trade rules and protocols of different countries may sometimes emerge as trade barriers to global telemedicine trade (Whitten, 2004). Many insurance companies do not provide cover for telemedicine and this too poses problems for telemedicine (VanderWerf, 2004). Further, the sophisticated technologies and systems used in the telemedicine trade are mostly proprietary or patented items of various companies may also cause problems. A segment of the market has a common impression that telemedicine is a very complex and expensive option and this again goes against the uptake of telemedicine option (Kickbusch, 2000).
The World Health Organization (WHO) with its well-stretched mandates can address the above problems effectively and thereby facilitate the popularization of telemedicine. Realizing that the existing GATS agreement, as it is, may not be much effective under the current situation, WHO decided to add a health policy perspective to the GATS rendering it more effective in the process. Moreover, WHO has also decided to work towards the liberalization of trade in healthcare services.
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