Special Initiative on GATS and Health Implications
Duration: Three years
Problem /Background:
International trade in health services is growing, as reflected in greater movement of health professionals, health tourism "packages", and more foreign investment by hospitals and health insurance companies. Such trends can contribute to economic development in developing countries, or to declines in public health, by exacerbating health professional shortages, and promoting unnecessary spending on high-tech services. The World Trade Organization (WTO)'s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) can affect which of these scenarios occurs. The WTO is currently engaged in negotiations designed to further liberalize services trade in many sectors, including the health sector. As many provisions in the current GATS rules are vague and there is little evidence on the health effects of existing GATS commitments, it is important to assess GATS' health impacts systematically.
Objectives:
- To expand knowledge about how trade in health services, and GATS commitments in particular, affect health and health systems
- To support the development of country case studies on the rationale for country GATS commitments, and to assess the implications of GATS negotiations on the ability of countries to manage trade in health services in ways that will improve public health
- To provide developing country health officials with training and guidance to ensure that health concerns are considered in the negotiation of GATS commitments, and in the design of national trade policies more generally.
Activities:
-
Monitor WTO/GATS Negotiations on Services ("GATS 2000") and related developments in regional trade agreements to assess implications for health, and communicate the information to a network of key country contacts via mail, web site updates and electronic bulletins.
-
Build country capacity to negotiate GATS commitments, or other services trade rules in regional trade agreements, that are beneficial to health, through 3 regional workshops, and conducting up to 10 country consultations in developing countries to provide specific advice.
-
Enhance country capacity to conduct research and analysis of Health System Effects of GATS and regional trade agreements by 1) supporting developing country case studies on the health effects of existing GATS commitments, and prospective analysis on potential GATS commitments, and 2) defining standard tools, methods, and indicators for monitoring and analyzing the impact of health-related GATS commitments.
-
Develop and implement strategies for systematic cross-country data collection on various modes of trade in health services via, 1) initiating mechanisms to collect consistent data in key modes of health services trade, and 2) designing and developing pilot databases on health services trade.
Back to previous page
|
