Globalization of Health
This refers to the increasing globalization of the health sector. Traditionally, the health sector has been closed and nationally focused, but this is beginning to change. Examples of the globalization of health include:
The increasing mobility of health professionals across borders; for example, the United Kingdom now actively recruits nurses from developing countries.
The increasing mobility of health consumers (people); for example, patients travelling abroad to access medical care.
The increase in private companies, including foreign companies, which provide health services and health insurance schemes.
The use of new technologies, such as the Internet, to provide health services across borders and to remote regions within countries.
A measure of the globalization of a health system would include its degree of openness to foreign goods, services, ideas and policies, and people.
http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story045/en/
