header background

Trade

The links between trade and health extend back to the earliest human settlements, but globalization has brought these spheres together as never before. This section examines the issues that have led to an even closer intersection between trade and health, asks how they impact the poor, and explores the tensions that arise between the goals of protecting and promoting health and generating wealth through trade

Trade

20 Pounds

The average American eats 20 pounds of seafood each year—about three-fourths of which is imported

The Hidden Health Penalty of Seafood Tariffs The Hidden Health Penalty of Seafood Tariffs

20%

India's pharmaceutical sector supplies 20% of the world's generic medicines and 37% of LMICs' vaccines

Pharma's Influence on India's Global Health Engagement Pharma's Influence on India's Global Health Engagement

4.6%

The health-care sector accounts for 4.6% of global net carbon emissions—more than the global shipping industry

Health Care's Climate Footprint: Saving Lives without Costing the Earth Health Care's Climate Footprint: Saving Lives without Costing the Earth

32 Million

Over 32 million of Africa's target population are fully vaccinated against COVID-19

African Public Health and Future Philanthropy African Public Health and Future Philanthropy

2%

Less than 2% of the world's influenza vaccine supply would reach low- and middle-income countries in a crisis

Efforts Against Flu Show Developing Nations Can Make Vaccines  Efforts Against Flu Show Developing Nations Can Make Vaccines 

1,961

A December 2021 search of ClinicalTrials.gov found 1,961 studies involving mRNA technology

mRNA Therapeutics: The Technology That Saved the World mRNA Therapeutics: The Technology That Saved the World

16 Percent

The value of global trade in medical goods rose by 16 percent in 2020

Global Trade in 2020 Global Trade in 2020

1 Percent

India is spending only one percent of its GDP on health

Community health in rural India Community health in rural India

94 Percent

By December 2021, 94 percent of people in LMICs had not yet received a first dose of COVID vaccine

COVID-19 vaccine access in LMICs COVID-19 vaccine access in LMICs

1995

Founding of World Trade Organization (WTO)

Founding of World Trade Organization (WTO) Founding of World Trade Organization (WTO)

Featured

Trade
An employee of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces prepares to test Artemisia annua plant extract and artemisinin derivatives in a laboratory, in Potsdam, Germany, on October 15, 2020.

Mapping Supply Chains: Global Health Agencies Lead the Way
by Prashant Yadav - March 6, 2025

Global health agencies can teach valuable lessons about drug supply risks and upstream supply chains

Trade
Workers carry a batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a helicopter

Using Game Theory to Advance the Pandemic Agreement

by David McAdams, Gavin Yamey

Rewarding drug manufacturers for sharing vaccine doses could break the impasse in negotiations

Trade
Recent outbreaks in Africa require investments in local vaccine manufacturing and ownership over allocation and access.

Vaccines for Africa by Africa

by Mariëlle Bemelmans, Moses Mulumba

Recent outbreaks require investments in local vaccine manufacturing and ownership over allocation and access

Staff label plastic bags filled with donated blood, in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 9, 2012.
Trade

The Neglected Crisis in Safe Blood Access

by Lyudmila Nepomnyashchiy, Thomas Muyombo, Bridon M'baya, Onyekachi C. Subah, Adeel Ishtiaq

Amid declining global aid, access to safe blood risks falling through the cracks. Promising new initiatives offer hope

Researchers work on a microbe they say can protect mosquitoes from malaria, at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology headquarters, in Nairobi, Kenya on, May 11, 2020.
Trade

Financing Health Innovation in Africa

by Mthuli Ncube

Zimbabwe's finance minister explains how Africa can grow health investments amid high public debt and less foreign aid

A vendor writes as she stands in a legal pharmacy, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on October 16, 2018.
Trade

Africa's Shift From Aid Dependency

by Muhammad Ali Pate, Philippe Duneton

The future of African health systems will be driven by domestic investment and demand for regionally made drugs

A boy holds a handful of antiretroviral pills before taking his medication at Nkosi's Haven, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 28, 2014.
Trade

Executive Order to Lower U.S. Drug Prices Could Hurt the Poorest Countries

by Prashant Yadav

Cascading adoption of most-favored-nation drug pricing could erode affordable access to essential medicines

Ranking of seafood exporters to the United States
Trade

The Hidden Health Penalty of Seafood Tariffs

by Martin D. Smith

President Donald Trump's tariffs will raise seafood prices, which could undermine cardiovascular health

A horizontal bar chart titled "Chinese Development Assistance to Gavi Transition Countries." The chart lists twelve countries with corresponding aid amounts in descending order: Bangladesh ($19.6B), Lao People's Democratic Republic ($18.2B), Kenya ($11B), Nigeria ($10.5B), Ghana ($7.3B), Papua New Guinea ($6.9B), Congo ($6.8B), Ivory Coast ($6.8B), Djibouti ($1.9B), Solomon Islands ($99M), and Sao Tome and Principe ($37M). Country flags are shown next to each name. The source is Think Global Health.
Trade

U.S. Retreat from Gavi Cedes Influence to China's Vaccine Suppliers

by Prashant Yadav, Chloe Searchinger

The loss of U.S. funding could leave Gavi with three options to downsize its operations

The shadow of a Philippine Army personnel is cast on boxes of relief items from USAID for the victims of super typhoon Haiyan, at Villamor Air Base, in Manila, Philippines, on November 13, 2013.
Trade

The USAID "Lifesaving" Waiver Is a Mirage Without Sufficient Staffing

by Prashant Yadav

The State Department's humanitarian waiver is essential but falls woefully short of ensuring patients receive medicines

An artisanal miner carries raw ore at Tilwizembe, a former industrial copper-cobalt mine, outside of Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 11, 2016.
Trade

Protecting Miners' Health in Democratic Republic of Congo

by Jonta Kamara, Stephanie Bumba

Growing evidence reveals mining harms pregnancies, and basic medicine near the sites is often inaccessible

The Growing Lack of Prescription Drugs
Trade

Importing Generic Drugs Could Ease U.S. Shortages

by Chloe Searchinger, Allison Krugman, Thomas J. Bollyky

Two-thirds of generic sterile injectable drugs in shortage could be imported from well-regulated foreign markets

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, is seen before addressing Ugandans living in South Africa on political issues in their home country.
Trade

Africa's Music Industry Fights Health Misinformation

by Mariel Ferragamo

As misinformation grows alongside public health threats, Africa's music industry is stepping in to counter it

An employee inspects tablets as they move along the production line at a pharmaceutical plant of Lupin.
Trade

Pharma's Influence on India's Global Health Engagement

by Kavya Shah, Rebecca Katz

India must balance its advocacy on behalf of developing countries with the interests of its growing domestic industry

People wait to receive medicine at a clinic.
Trade

Secret Shoppers Expose Antibiotic Overprescribing in India

by Ron Shinkman

Is it ethical to pose as a patient to reveal medical malpractice?