In Sickness and in Health: Globalization and Health Care Delivery in Ghana

A poster meant to solicit support for the Global Day of Action Against Debt Crisis (September 26th, 2000) carried the following message: Rally Against the IMF, Debt, SAP and HIV/AIDS. Showing the faces of poverty-stricken African children the message went on: They have been sentenced to death by the banks, drug companies, Western governments, and bodies like the IMF and World Bank. There is a war going on today —of the rich against the poor, of giant firms and their governments partners against humanity. The message here is very clear: to some globalization or internationalism is evil. It has marginalized the peoples of the developing world and therefore must be resisted. Currently therefore there are several movements in both the developed and the developing world devoted to resisting the macro-economic policies of multilateral agencies (such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Group of 7) in the developing world. Indeed globalization has recently evoked wide interest as a far-reaching socio-cultural process. More than merely an economic phenomenon, it has established connections across various communities and cultural traditions. While the benefits of improved information networks and