International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Trade Policy and Health: Adding Retrospective Studies to the Research Agenda; Comment on “The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Is It Everything We Feared for Health?”

Document Type : Commentary

Author
Chantal Blouin
Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on International Trade and Investment, Institute for Advanced International Studies (HEI), Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
10.15171/ijhpm.2016.123
Abstract
Prospective studies of the potential health consequences of trade and investment treaties, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, are critical. These studies can make visible to trade policy-makers the potential negative impacts associated to such treaties and can influence the outcomes of such negotiations. However, few researchers have examined retrospectively the consequences of trade agreements. With more than 400 trade agreements and more than 2000 investment treaties currently in force, researchers have a large corpus of agreements to analyse in order to assess not only their potential impacts on health system and population health, but also their actual impacts. This comment suggests some research questions that would benefit from retrospective inquiry.
Keywords
Trade and Investment Policy
Population Health
Social and Political Determinants of Health
Regulatory Chill
Subjects

  1.  

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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 6, Issue 4
2017
Pages 243-244

  • Received Date 31 July 2016
  • Revised Date 10 September 2016
  • Accepted Date 31 August 2016
  • First Published Date 01 April 2017
  • Published Date 01 April 2017