About CPATH - Overview

In a short time, the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH) has become a widely recognized leader and a reliable resource in the debates on global trade and health. CPATH has encouraged public health leaders to articulate their stake in protecting public accountability.

CPATH is dedicated to protecting and expanding access to health care, water, and other vital health-related services. CPATH links policy makers and organizations concerned about the effects of economic globalization on health, to create economically and socially just, democratically accountable, and environmentally sustainable solutions.

CPATH conducts multi-disciplinary research, analysis and advocacy about the impact of international trade and increased privatization, deregulation, and decentralization of vital human services on health. Focusing on the relationship between trade and health, CPATH is assessing the impact of trade agreements, including NAFTA, and the potential impact of the GATS, FTAA, and World Trade Organization disciplines on the health care system in the United States, including "safety net" services such as community clinics and public hospitals, and on domestic regulations in the United States that protect population health which might be subject to challenge as unnecessary barriers to trade.

Extensive experience enables CPATH to link new partners across constituencies, to develop new models of regional and national collaboration, and to energize a collective voice that advocates protecting population health and the environment.

Advocacy is centered on: achieving accountable, transparent and democratic decision-making in international trade negotiations; requiring an analysis of the public health impact of international trade agreements, and maintaining federal, state, and local regulatory authority and safeguards to protect and advance population health as a necessary condition of international trade agreements and policy.

CPATH is a project of the Center for Policy Analysis, a  nonprofit organization dedicated to improving population health in the United States and internationally.