Swine Flu and the Globalization of Disease

Mexico’s Swine Flu and the Globalization of Disease

By Laura Carlsen

Mexico has long been considered the laboratory of globalization. Now a potentially deadly virus has germinated in that laboratory, finding ideal conditions to move quickly along a path toward global pandemic.

Those conditions include: a rapid transition from small livestock production to industrial meat farms after NAFTA established incentives for foreign investment, the failed decentralization of Mexico’s health system along lines established by multilateral lending banks, lax and non-enforced environmental and health regulations as the Mexican government was forced to downsize, the increased flow of goods and persons across borders, and restricted access to life-saving medicines due to NAFTA intellectual property monopolies for pharmaceutical companies.

Laura Carlsen blogs at www.americasmexico.blogspot.com and her other analysis can be seen at www.americaspolicy.org.

See the blog at:
http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/04/mexicos-swine-flu-and-globalization-of.html

ENDS

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