Global Health Governance In International Society

This book argues that the rise of institutions and organizations dedicated to global health-global health governance-has emerged, grown, and proven itself resilient over the past generation because international society has come to understand addressing global health as part of a larger sense of moral responsibility and obligation.

In recent years the spread of diseases such as AIDS, SARS and avian flu has pushed health issues towards the top of the international agenda. Such outbreaks have serious political, economic, and social consequences and remind the world of the necessity of global cooperation in order to deal effectively with the challenges they pose. Global Health Governance offers a comprehensive introduction to the changing international legal environment, the governmental and non-governmental actors involved with health issues, and the current regime’s ability to adapt to new crises. Part 1 focuses on the evolution of international regulations aimed at stopping the spread of health problems across borders. Over the last 150 years, the nature of such cooperation, the motivations of the parties involved, and the diseases covered, has changed radically. Part 2 examines some of the most prominent actors in global health governance today, ranging from traditional intergovernmental organizations, such as the WHO and the World Bank, to private philanthropic organizations that exist outside regular global governance structures. Part 3 concentrates on some of the most pressing issues facing global health governance today, including access to pharmaceuticals, the costs and benefits of making health a security issue, and the role of civil society organizations. Global Health Governance provides an accessible and insightful analysis of an evolving realm of global governance and cooperation. It will appeal to students of global health politics, global governance, international organization, and human security.

Global Health Governance and Policy outlines the fundamentals of global health, a key element of sustainable development. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it explores the relationship between the globalization process and global health’s social, political, economic and environmental determinants. It points the attention to the actors and forces that shape global policies and actions with an impact on peoples’ health in an increasingly complex global governance context. Topics discussed include: The relationship between globalization and the determinants of health The essentials of global health measurements The evolution of public health strategies in the context of the global development agenda The actors and influencers of global health governance The role of health systems The dynamics and mechanisms of global health financing and Development Assistance for Health Career opportunities in global health governance, management and policy Looking in depth at some of the more significant links between neoliberal globalization, global policies and health, Global Health Governance and Policy: An Introduction discusses some specific health issues of global relevance such as changes in the ecosystem, epidemics and the spread of infectious diseases, the global transformation of the food system, the tobacco epidemic, human migration, macroeconomic processes and global financial crisis, trade and access to health services, drugs and vaccines, and eHealth and the global "health 4.0" challenge. Written by a team of experienced practitioners, scientists and teachers, this textbook is ideal for students of all levels and professionals in a variety of disciplines with an interest in global health.

In recent years the spread of diseases such as AIDS, SARS and avian flu has pushed health issues towards the top of the international agenda. Such outbreaks have serious political, economic, and social consequences and remind the world of the necessity of global cooperation in order to deal effectively with the challenges they pose. Global Health Governance offers a comprehensive introduction to the changing international legal environment, the governmental and non-governmental actors involved with health issues, and the current regime’s ability to adapt to new crises. Part 1 focuses on the evolution of international regulations aimed at stopping the spread of health problems across borders. Over the last 150 years, the nature of such cooperation, the motivations of the parties involved, and the diseases covered, has changed radically. Part 2 examines some of the most prominent actors in global health governance today, ranging from traditional intergovernmental organizations, such as the WHO and the World Bank, to private philanthropic organizations that exist outside regular global governance structures. Part 3 concentrates on some of the most pressing issues facing global health governance today, including access to pharmaceuticals, the costs and benefits of making health a security issue, and the role of civil society organizations. Global Health Governance provides an accessible and insightful analysis of an evolving realm of global governance and cooperation. It will appeal to students of global health politics, global governance, international organization, and human security.

Globalization has immersed all of humanity in a single germ pool. There are no health sanctuaries in a globalizing world. In Global Health Governance, Obijiofor Aginam explores the relevance of international law in contemporary public health diplomacy. He focuses on the concept of mutual vulnerability to explore the globalization of disease, in what is paradoxically a global village and a divided world. Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, Global Health Governance offers a holistic approach to global health governance involving a multiplicity of actors: nation-states, international organizations, civil society organizations, and private actors. Aginam articulates modest proposals under the rubric of communitarian globalism, a paradigm that strives to meet the ideals of 'law of humanity.' These proposals project a humane global health order where all of humanity is inexorably tied into a global compact and where the health of one nation-state rises and falls with the health of others. International law—with its bold claims to universal protection of human rights and human dignity—is an indispensable governance tool for the reconstruction of damaged public health trust in the relations of nations and peoples.

Institutions matter for the advancement of human rights in global health. Given the dramatic development of human rights under international law and the parallel proliferation of global institutions for public health, there arises an imperative to understand the implementation of human rights through global health governance. This volume examines the evolving relationship between human rights, global governance, and public health, studying an expansive set of health challenges through a multi-sectoral array of global organizations. To analyze the structural determinants of rights-based governance, the organizations in this volume include those international bureaucracies that implement human rights in ways that influence public health in a globalizing world. This volume brings together leading health and human rights scholars and practitioners from academia, non-governmental organizations, and the United Nations system. They explore the foundations of human rights as a normative framework for global health governance, the mandate of the World Health Organization to pursue a human rights-based approach to health, the role of inter-governmental organizations across a range of health-related human rights, the influence of rights-based economic governance on public health, and the focus on global health among institutions of human rights governance. Contributing chapters each map the distinct human rights efforts within a specific institution of global governance for health. Through the comparative institutional analysis in this volume, the contributing authors examine institutional dynamics to operationalize human rights in organizational policies, programs, and practices and assess institutional factors that facilitate or inhibit human rights mainstreaming for global health advancement.

Since the 2014 Ebola outbreak many public- and private-sector leaders have seen a need for improved management of global public health emergencies. The effects of the Ebola epidemic go well beyond the three hardest-hit countries and beyond the health sector. Education, child protection, commerce, transportation, and human rights have all suffered. The consequences and lethality of Ebola have increased interest in coordinated global response to infectious threats, many of which could disrupt global health and commerce far more than the recent outbreak. In order to explore the potential for improving international management and response to outbreaks the National Academy of Medicine agreed to manage an international, independent, evidence-based, authoritative, multistakeholder expert commission. As part of this effort, the Institute of Medicine convened four workshops in summer of 2015 to inform the commission report. The presentations and discussions from the Governance for Global Health Workshop are summarized in this report.

A timely inquiry into how domestic politics and global health governance interact in Africa. Global health campaigns, development aid programs, and disaster relief groups have been criticized for falling into colonialist patterns, running roughshod over the local structure and authority of the countries in which they work. Far from powerless, however, African states play complex roles in health policy design and implementation. In Africa and Global Health Governance, Amy S. Patterson focuses on AIDS, the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak, and noncommunicable diseases to demonstrate why and how African states accept, challenge, or remain ambivalent toward global health policies, structures, and norms. Employing in-depth analysis of media reports and global health data, Patterson also relies on interviews and focus-group discussions to give voice to the various agents operating within African health care systems, including donor representatives, state officials, NGOs, community-based groups, health activists, and patients. Showing the variety within broader patterns, this clearly written book demonstrates that Africa's role in global health governance is dynamic and not without agency. Patterson shows how, for example, African leaders engage with international groups, attempting to maintain their own leadership while securing the aid their people need. Her findings will benefit health and development practitioners, scholars, and students of global health governance and African politics.