Madam, - Peadar Kirby's response to Peter Sutherland's claim that globalisation benefits poor countries (World View, June 28th) described in detail how the gap between poor and rich widened during a period of high foreign investment and trade in Latin America.
In fact, it is hard to find any part of the world where globalisation has helped the poor. Instead, as studies by UNCTAD and the International Labour Office have shown, the gap between rich and poor has generally widened as countries have opened themselves up to international trade. A World Bank report even stated that "the costs of adjusting to greater openness [to trade\] are borne exclusively by the poor".
As the distribution of income plays a very significant role in determining health status, the costs borne by the poor include a deterioration in their health. The widening gap between poor and rich in Ireland during our recent economic boom had exactly this effect. As a public health doctor, I have abundant statistical evidence to show that health deteriorated among those groups which lost out in relative terms.
The world needs to find itself an economic system that enables governments to put the development of their people and the preservation of the environment ahead of the maintenance of international competitiveness and the achievement of economic growth. - Yours, etc.,
Dr ELIZABETH CULLEN, Thomastown, Kilcullen, Co Kildare.