Globalization and Public Health in Rural Zones: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa

Distant rural regions of Sub-Sahara Africa are often coveted by foreign investing companies for their natural resources. However, the rural populations do not always take advantage of the economic benefits resulting from those investing activities. These increasing activities do not leave without harming the health of rural communities as they rely on community-based traditional and ancestral practices such as fishing and hunting, traditional medicine, spiritual ceremonies, among others, to survive. We aimed to analyze selected indicators of public health in rural zones highly impacted by globalization factors using existing database and literature research. Given the complexity of the situation, efforts and strategies to mitigate the negative effect of globalization on the health of rural communities must include not only urgent and binding commitment of all stakeholders but also a multi-sectorial long-term approach to increase the health of rural Sub-Saharan African populations while taking advantages of local know-how