Globalization is the word used to describe the process of the world becoming more and more deeply

connected through various fields, such as politics, economics, communication, and popular culture.
In fact, globalization has significant impacts on human health. This essay will describe the impacts
that globalization has had on human health and conclude what will become of human health in the
future.

Today, the number of NCDs (Noncommunicable Diseases) patients are increasing as the world is
becoming globalized. NCDs are generally known as chronic diseases, like cancer, heart diseases, and
type 2 diabetes. In 2021, it is estimated that NCDs kill 41 million people, equivalent to 71% of all
deaths globally. One of the most common causes of NCDs is unhealthy diets. Since globalization has
spread worldwide unhealthy junk foods, eating habits in many countries have become unhealthy. For
example, McDonald’s has more than 31,000 restaurants in 118 countries. This means that people all
around the world eat regularly the obviously unhealthy hamburgers and french fries. As the result of
unhealthy diets, the risk of NCDs increases dramatically. At the present, in 2022, there is few cures
for most of NCDs, so the risk of death increases if you get an NCD, and therefore, the most common
cause of death is NCDs. However, there is still hope; people can reduce the risk of getting such
diseases by trying to eat healthy foods instead of eating unhealthy foods. The fact that the risk of the
diseases can be reduced by ourselves is a positive aspect.

The risk of a pandemic also increases because of globalization. A pandemic is the worldwide spread
of a new disease, such as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In the globalized world, a large
number of people move across the international borders. And therefore, the spread of a new kind of
virus is more likely to occur than in less globalized world. For example, the coronavirus was brought
in Japan from foreign countries. If Japan had continued to adopt the closed-door policy, the virus
would not have spreaded. The active flows of people contributed to the expansion of the virus. In
addition to physical health, mental health is also damaged by pandemics. During the period of
pandemics, people should refrain from seeing their friends in person. Therefore, they come to feel
lonely and depressed easily. Despite these negative effects, however, there is a positive effect of
pandemics: medical developments. As humans have to fight against a new kind of virus, they have to
quickly create a new medicine and theory. So, medical centers all over the world corporate with each
other, which will lead to medical innovations.

Globalization also contributes to the health problems caused by environmental problems. As the
world becomes more globalized, the use of fossil fuels and the emissions of harmful substances will
increase. If a person inhales such substances, he/she is exposed to the danger of lung diseases. Also,
the increased emissions of fossil fuels bring climate change, which leads to lack of food and food
crisis, for crops cannot grow up in extraordinary environment. If the food crisis occur, people will
suffer from health problems, such as starvation and lack of nutrition. Growing concerns about these
problems make the world corporate together. In fact, World Health Summit has been held since
2009. The motto of 2019 summit was “United together for global health". Global corporations bring
positive effects because people can share ideas to reach better measures against health problems.

In conclusion, globalization has impacted human health in very significant ways. The global
expansion of unhealthy diets increases the risk of NCDs. But the risk of these diseases can be
reduced by trying to avoid junk food. Because of globalization, the risk of pandemics increases.
However, if a pandemic once occurs, the world will corporate together, develop a new medical
technology, and then get over the pandemic. Globalization also brings the world health problems
caused by environmental problems. To fight against them, the world unites and shares ideas through
international summit. Therefore, although globalization increases the risks of new kind of health
problems, humans will deal with them properly through individual efforts and international
corporation. In the future, humans will manage to maintain their health as they have always done.