globalization essay final

Infectious diseases are increasing at a rapid rate as there are at least 30 new infectious disease have discovered in the past 20 years (TWN Third World Network). In this time of globalization, people are able to travel around the world and connect with each other more easily. Therefore, this will increase the risks of spreading infectious diseases more easily because people are usually carrying the virus unknowingly just like first person infected by SARS virus who has travelling around the world without knowing about it.  However, with the advancement of technology and science, scientists have been found new ways of tackling infectious diseases, such as the use of genetic engineering (McPhersson, 2008). The World Health Organisation (WHO) links countries together, it behaves like a leader of the world that “set rules and regulations regarding outbreaks of pandemics and also implement preventive measures against these diseases” (Zogu&Rezniqi, 2013).  These are some solutions that have been used to tackle pandemics; moreover, the individual should also be more vigilant towards the spreading of these diseases and the countries’ governments should work together to be more alert on the warning signs. People cannot eliminate global pandemics, but they can work together to reduce the risk of the pandemics.

Countries should work closely together to be more alert to the warning signs. Due to globalization, countries have become more interconnected and interdependent on each other.  An American and a Japanese having lunch in a Spanish restaurant in Beijing is no longer a strange scene; people are travelling around the world for business or leisure much more easily in a globalised world.  However, there is a flip-side: people usually forget that this increase in mobility accelerates the risk of the spread of diseases. SARS is one such example; it started as a regional outbreak in China, and spread rapidly within weeks along the routes of international air travel to over 25 countries and 5 continents(Tatem Rogers &Hay,2006). Patients carried the virus unknowingly, spreading the virus to the countries they travelled to.  In recent years, scientists have looked into science to alleviate pandemic challenges such as genetic engineering and “its success can be shown in the total elimination of serious diseases such as smallpox and even rinderpest in animals” (Locke, 2011).Technology may be able to help alleviate some diseases, but it is very time consuming and costly; a full clinical trial can cost to few million dollars and needs thousands of people to participate in it. Therefore, genetic engineering is not easily accessible to the world population.  Moreover, the more serious problem is a lack of national and international political will and resources to develop and support the systems that are necessary to detect and stop the spread. Therefore, countries should work closely together as a whole to be more alert to the warning signs that may signal the start of the spread of a disease and exchange information to ensure closer cooperation between affected countries.  Moreover, First World countries could do more to help poorer countries in the transportation of medical facilities so that they can have easier access to medical supplies in times of need.

Governments should also help to raise the awareness of the citizens regarding this issue.  The WHO and United Nations Health Committee have set up have rules and regulations to limit the chance of spreading diseases around the world (Zogu&Rezniqi, 2013).  However, it is usually the government’s problem because many citizens do not care about polices. In order for these rules to be successfully implemented, citizens have to be fully aware of their existence and this is where the government could do more to raise the citizen’s awareness of these rules.  This would also ensure that the nation would not panic if a pandemic hits the country.  People should be more aware about infectious diseases, just like the Japanese are well-trained to deal with earthquakes; hence, if earthquakes were to hit their country, they would know how to react immediately.   Therefore, in the same way, citizens should be educated to remain vigilant regarding the spread of diseases so that if there is an outbreak of infectious diseases, citizens would know the necessary precautionary actions to take.

In conclusion, global pandemics will still be the most challenging problem in the future. People cannot totally eliminated them. However, countries can help each other to make sure the pandemic information is updated and individuals can be more aware to prevent the spreading of disease.

 

1. New diseases and renewed threats, TWN Third World Network. Retrieved from http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/dise-cn.htm
2. McPherson, J. (2008).Effects of Genetic Engineering. Retrieved from http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/genetic-engineering.shtml
3. Nevrus Zogu &Shpetim Rezniqi &University College “BIZNESI”, (2013), Globalization and global threats: Challenges for the 21 century pandemic management.  Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/BuciZogu1/globalization-and-global-threats-and-pandemic-threts-21-century
4. Tatem, AJ & Rogers, J .D& Hay ,S.I (2006). Global Transport Networks and Infectious Disease Spread . Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3145127/
5. Locke, S. F. (2011), Rinderpest, the Cattle-Killing Plague, to Become the Second Officially-Eradicated Scourge. Retrieved from http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/first-we-eradicated-smallpox-rinderpest-next