Healthcare Introduction

My topic is healthcare, and more specifically, the globalization of healthcare. I found this topic interesting because we as humans have the technological and literature resources to reach out to more geographical areas than we did ten or even five years ago. However, developing countries such as Malawi are still in the midst of preventable disease. According to the WHO, only around 56% of the 309,000 people infected with HIV or AIDS got treatment in 2009 (WHO 2009).

I want to explore cultural implications of healthcare as well, and healthcare policy regarding cultural differences between communities. My UH 370 class recently covered Melissa Wright’s “Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism”. Wright explores the issue of disposable women through her research in southern China and northern Mexico. Her studies in southern China particularly interested me when she mentioned that a factory plant regulated female menstrual cycles and required them to take periodic pregnancy tests on-site. She also mentioned that the managers of the factories saw their relationship with their factory workers as a father-daughter relationship and they were responsible for keeping “good” daughters. I got the impression that she frowned upon this practice, but I did not find this information entirely upsetting. I am half-Korean, and although I was raised in the U.S., I notice a big difference between Asian (in Korea and in the U.S.) and Caucasian family structure. It is not common for a whole Korean family to move with their student to his/her college town, or to set up children on dates (not as common). Even though these differences are less extreme than regulating reproductive cycles, I just think Wright should have delved deeper into Chinese culture before introducing the managers’ methods of controlling the workplace.

My goal for this blog is to maintain a plethora of valid resources to explore health on a global level and to apply my knowledge of science and technology to this class and global health issues.

References:

Malawi. WHO, 29 Jan. 2010. Web. .

Wright, Melissa W. Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.

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