The Trade and Health Forum is a cross-sectional APHA unit formally approved in 2007 with the official sponsorship of the Medical Care and International Health Sections. Many other Sections and Affiliates have participated in creating the Forum and its sessions, including Public Health Nursing, Occupational Health and Safety, Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs, Public Health Education and Health Promotion, HIV/AIDS, Environmental Health, Gerontological Health, and Refugee & Immigrant Health.
In 2008, the Forum plans once again to present three oral sessions and a poster session and welcomes collaborations with the Medical Care Section. There will also be a cross-border educational session at the Annual Meeting in San Diego on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008 in cooperation with border maquiladora organizers. The 2007 Forum sessions are posted on the Web site for the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health, www.cpath.org.
As a cross-sectional unit, you can join the Forum without paying an additional fee, while keeping Medical Care as your primary Section. Sign up is available at: www.apha.org/membergroups/forums/.
The Forum was created because of widespread interest and concern regarding the adverse impact of international trade agreements (such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and GATS) on public health, both internationally and within the United States. The extent and pace of global economic development, as well as the rules that govern it, affect the health of populations, the levels of wealth and the equitable distribution of wealth. International trade agreements set the parameters under which governments may make laws and regulations, including those related to public health.
Trade agreements have successfully challenged or obstructed, as potential barriers to trade, measures that:
- protect health and the environment;
- assure the safety and affordability of vital human services, including health care, water, education and energy;
- limit exposure to harm from tobacco and alcohol;
- provide access to affordable prescription drugs;
- safeguard occupational safety and health; and
- limit unwarranted or unsafe use of infant formula.
The Forum hopes that by bringing different disciplines of APHA together around these issues, we can further the goals of APHA to protect Americans and other populations around the world from preventable, serious health threats. We also aim to develop and promote policies that advance economic development while sustaining life, healthy societies and the environment, and that improve access to affordable, accountable vital human services, including health care, water and sanitation, education and energy.
For more information, you are welcome to contact the Medical Care Section representative to the Forum Ellen Shaffer, ershaffer@cpath.org; or Forum Chair Susanna Bohme, susanna_bohme@egilman.com.
Ellen Shaffer, Executive Board