Health for Some – The Political Economy of Global Health Governance

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Global Health ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Health Governance ◽  
Health Governance

From Alma Ata to the SDG s

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Weber
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Health Governance ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Community Activists ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Year 2000

Abstract The Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 proclaimed “health for all by the year 2000.” In 2019 health is mainstreamed through the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG s) initiative. Contributing to critical analysis of global health governance (GHG), this article reconstructs the normative premises of the Alma Ata Declaration, the political project it represented, and the successful cases it was inspired by. It contrasts this with an account of the emergence and gradual consolidation of the GHG agenda that is today reflected in the SDG s. The calls for a return to the Alma Ata Declaration resonate strongly among human rights advocates, community activists, and the medical profession. This is because of the socially exclusionary effects of the dominant health governance agenda shaped by distinctively neoliberal premises. The article argues that in the final analysis the two different approaches reflect very different ideas and ideals about “who global health governance is for.”

"A Promise Unfulfilled": Stakeholder Influence and the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs; Comment on "Competing Frames in Global Health Governance: an Analysis of Stakeholder Influence on the Political Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Ralston
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Health Governance ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Stakeholder Influence ◽  
High Level

In recognition of the global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the past decade has seen three U.N. High Level Meetings on NCDs. Yet progress in terms of political or financial commitments has been very slow. At the 2018 meeting, a political declaration was approved but featured language that had been watered down in terms of commitments. In "Competing Frames of Global Health Governance: An Analysis of Stakeholder Influence on the Political Declaration on Non-communicable Diseases," Suzuki et al analyze the documents that were submitted by Member States, NGOs and the private sector during the consultation period and conclude that the private sector and several high-income countries appeared to oppose regulatory frameworks for products associated with NCDs , that wealthier countries resisted financing commitments, and that general power asymmetries affected the final document. This comment supports their findings and provides additional considerations for why the NCD response has yet to produce significant commitments.

scholarly journals The rise of companies from emerging markets in global health governance: Opportunities and challenges

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE ROEMER-MAHLER
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The Political ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Global Health Governance ◽  
Pharmaceutical Treatment ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Global Health Policy

AbstractThe article analyses the involvement of pharmaceutical companies from emerging markets in global health governance. It finds that they play a central role as low-cost suppliers of medicines and vaccines and, increasingly, new technologies. In so doing, pharmaceutical companies from emerging markets have facilitated the implementation of a key goal of global health policy: widening access to pharmaceutical treatment and prevention. Yet, looking closer at the political economy underlying their involvement, the article exposes a tension between this policy goal and the political economy of pharmaceutical development and production. By declaring access to pharmaceuticals a goal of global health policy, governments and global health partnerships have made themselves dependent on pharmaceutical companies to supply them. Moreover, to provide pharmaceutical treatment and prevention at the global level, they depend on companies to supply medicines and vaccines at extremely low prices. Yet, the development and production of pharmaceuticals is organised around commercial incentives that are at odds with the prices required. The increasing involvement of low-cost suppliers from emerging markets mitigates this tension in the short run. In the long run, this tension endangers the sustainability of global access policies and may even undermine some of the successes already achieved.

Civil Society and Global Health Politics

2019 ◽  
pp. 365-385
Author(s):  
David McCoy ◽  
Joseph Gafton
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Health Governance ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Role Of The State

Civil society may be defined as both a space in society and a collection of certain types of actor. As a space, it exists alongside the state and markets; as a set of actors, it interacts with a range of governmental bodies and businesses. Over the past three or four decades, neoliberal globalisation has dramatically changed the distribution of power across society, while also institutionalising a set of policies that have diminished the role of the state, undermined democracy, and established the dominance of market logic. These developments have influenced both international health policy and the structures of global governance. Furthermore, they have also shaped the nature of civil society’s participation in global health policy and governance. Crucially, civil society does not merely intervene in global health politics from outside, but is itself sculpted by the ideologies and political conditions that surround it. This chapter explores the political nature of civil society and its relationship to global health politics, including the political nature of new non-state actors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the emergence of global health partnerships, which have ostensibly increased civil society involvement in global health governance. It argues that civil society participation in global health governance tends to represent powerful and hegemonic interests rather than those most in need. It also discusses how current political, economic and technological developments will influence civil society’s participation in global health politics, and shape the challenges faced by society more generally.

scholarly journals Lacking Clarity or Strategic Ambiguity? Comment on "Competing Frames in Global Health Governance: An Analysis of Stakeholder Influence on the Political Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases"

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Carriedo ◽  
Kathrin Lauber ◽  
Margaret M. Miller ◽  
Rob Ralston
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Health Governance ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Public And Private Sector

This commentary engages with Suzuki and colleagues’ analysis about the ambiguity of multi-stakeholder discourses in the United Nations (UN) Political Declaration of the 3rd High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (HLM-NCDs), suggesting that blurring between public and private sector in this declaration reflects broader debates about multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) and public-private partnerships (PPPs) in health governance. We argue that the ambiguity between the roles and responsibilities of public and private actors involved may downplay the role (and regulation) of conflicts of interest (COI) between unhealthy commodity industries and public health. We argue that this ambiguity is not simply an artefact of the Political Declaration process, but a feature of multi-stakeholderism, which assumes that commercial actors´ interests can be aligned with the public interest. To safeguard global health governance, we recommend further empirical and conceptual research on COI and how it can be managed.

The English School and the Emergence of International Society

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Youde
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Global Health ◽  
International Society ◽  
English School ◽  
Global Health Governance ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
International Environment ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Rich History

English School theorizing is particularly relevant for understanding why and under what circumstances actors choose to contribute to coordinated international actions. English School theory has both a rich history and a nuanced understanding of the international environment that allows it to comprehend the emergence of complex systems like global health governance as an institution within international society. This chapter describes the foundations of the English School and highlights its usefulness for understanding the expansion and resilience of global health governance. At the same time, this chapter expands upon the English School, pushing it to address the role of non-state actors within international society and incorporate political economy into its theorizing. While this institution has emerged, it does not always operate in an optimal fashion, nor does it obviate the fact that states may sometimes act in selfish ways.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document