Globalization has increased public health practice and policy challenges due to the high international flow of people, pathogens, and trade. Notably, the contemporary world has established a pattern of transnational economic integration focused on creating a self-regulating market for goods, capital, skills, services, and technology across nations. Thus, political borders are now less relevant as they cannot contain health and disease of global measures. For instance, a pathogen like influenza can potentially travel around the globe within a short time and kill millions of people while disrupting economies and interfering with national security (Garcia, 2020). Although lack of boarder may enhance monetary flow and economic development, it negatively impacts public health by complicating the control and management of contagious diseases.
People are carriers of pathogens, meaning their free movement increases the probability of spreading viruses and bacteria, some of which may be drug-resistant. The most recent example is the spread of COVID-19 which led to its declaration as a public health emergency international concern on 30 January 2020 by the international health regulation (Lee et al., 2020). The first diagnosis of the disease was made in China, after which there was more spread to other parts of the globe. Notably, there were many variants of COVID-19, such as the omicron family. A person may successfully get a vaccine for one type of the coronavirus but, after traveling to another country, contact a more resistant form of the pathogen. Treatment of the disease becomes more complex because of the spread of mutants across countries.
The inter-boarder spread of diseases can make it difficult to identify and diagnose an infection, which delays treatment correctly. According to Garcia (2020), during the Ebola epidemic, there was an average fatality rate of 50%, but with correct diagnosis and treatment in the United States or Europe, the patients had a higher chance of survival. There are several cases where doctors fail to understand the cause of a specific condition because it is not common in the region. However, if it is contagious, it can spread and lead to public health concerns.
A personal example happened last year when travel restrictions were one of the stringent measures against COVID-19. However, two of my family members living overseas were evacuated, and we rejoined. Shortly after, they started presenting with symptoms that mimic coronavirus infection. I was panicking because I did not want to lose any of them to the pandemic. However, after they were taken for testing, the results were negative for COVID-19. It was a relief but one that created frustrations because they were still sick. After several lab tests, it was discovered that they had acute pneumonia, an outbreak due to the extreme cold. The situation was further compounded when their body refused to respond to the local medications. I had to consult an international doctor who prescribed different drugs that eventually cured the two relatives. The event made me realize that even the geographical environment can impact response to medication. Thus, as people move around the world, they may encounter some diseases that are unique to one region.
In summary, as political borders increasingly lose relevance due to globalization and international trade relations, the public health sector will have to deal with more complex epidemiological issues. The spread of contagious pathogens as people move from one country to the next is inevitable. Moreover, diagnosis and management of resistant variants of viruses and conditions may lead to more suffering and deaths. Some drugs may work best in treating disease while the people are in one region but fail in another. Therefore, there is a need to establish policies like medical examination before international travel to improve health.
References
Garcia, K. (2020). ‘Disease knows no borders’. Penn Today. Web.
Lee, K., Grépin, K. A., Worsnop, C., Marion, S., Piper, J., & Song, M. (2021). Managing borders during public health emergencies of international concern: A proposed typology of cross-border health measures. BioMed Central, 17(62), 1-19. Web.