Globalization is the development of an increasingly integrated global economy, characterized above all by free trade, the free flow of capital and the exploitation of cheaper foreign labor markets ( www.merriam-webster.com, 2012). Globalization has had both positive and negative effects on health. This essay will examine how globalization has helped alcohol and tobacco trade around the world and, in doing so, affected health, how globalization has enabled the global community to combat these problems, and an estimate of alcohol and tobacco consumption in different countries . This essay will also contain World Health Organization statistics based on alcohol and tobacco to illustrate the impact of globalization. Alcohol: The question of when alcohol was invented is still unknown, but the discovery of late beer mugs Stone Age is evidence that alcohol/fermented drinks were used as early as the Neolithic. (Patrick, 1952). Researchers use the years between 6000 and 4000 BC as a starting point when examining the history of alcohol because the evidence is very clear. During this period, viticulture, the process of making wine, was invented and the evidence is found in Egyptian pictographs. A vital time in the history of wine was between 3000 and 2000 BC, when wine production and trade became a vital part of the Mediterranean market and culture, ships carrying huge quantities of wine between cities. Over the years wine production increased and it was during 500 AD that wine production reached Tang China along the Silk Road (www.lmu.edu, 2012). The above explains the history of the wine trade. Today wine can be found all over the world, it is a global product and wine production will only continue to grow. Looking at Figure 2 – world with...... middle of paper ...... on tobacco use and smoking. For example, the introduction of this treaty was very successful: Ireland in 2004 banned smoking in public places, in 2006, Iran banned all types of tobacco advertising, in 2009, Turkey implemented a similar smoking ban and there are many other success stories related to the implementation of this treaty (www.who.int, 2011) Conclusion: As borders fade because of globalization, people and goods can move more easily across world, which, in doing so, creates new challenges for global health. These problems cannot be fought by national governments alone, but must be addressed by international organizations and agreements. Globalization has had a negative impact on health in terms of alcohol and cigarette trade, but with the help of the global community these problems can be successfully combated.