This paper describes a conceptual framework for the effects of globalisation on population health. Nowadays it is increasingly perceived as a more comprehensive phenomenon, which is shaped by a multitude of factors and events that are reshaping our society rapidly. In the past globalisation has often been seen as a more or less economic process. But health inequalities between rich and poor persist, while the prospects for future health depend increasingly on the relative new processes of globalisation. Good health for all populations has become an accepted international goal and we can state that there have been broad gains in life expectancy over the past century.
