The Health of Nations: Conceptualizing Approaches to Trade in Health Care

The forces of the Wealth of nations are not at work for the Health of nations. Economic and trade integration have progressed over the last fifty years and yet one sector remains conspicuously un-globalized: health care. Interest groups and international organizations, like the World Health Organization, have conveyed a picture of trade liberalization of health care as detrimental to developing countries. Yet it is developed countries that primarily resist opening their markets for trade in health care, say Lucy Davis and Fredrik Erixon in this new study. They examine the opposition to trade in health care and suggest ways of moving forward, expanding on the potential that trade could bring to this beleaguered sector. Countries as diverse as Brazil, China, Cuba, India and South Africa are already significant exporters of health care. Patients in developed and developing countries stand to gain from lower health costs, increased efficiency and better quality of service.