Diseases of Globalization: Socioeconomic Transition and Health

Among the most important consequences of globalization are changes in the patterns of health and the prevalence of disease. Many treatable illnesses are in decline, but many other conditions are on the increase. In particular, non-communicable, 'lifestyle' illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes are growing rapidly.

Diseases of Globalization draws on primary case study material primarily from societies in the Pacific region undergoing modernization, providing invaluable information for tracking and assessing the full impacts of the changes. The move from subsistence to cash economies, brings with it changes in diet, alcohol consumption and high levels of smoking. Growing divisions of wealth add to the problems, bringing the diseases relating to poverty and malnourishment, and also those caused by affluence and over-consumption.