scholarly journals Characteristics of Global Health Diplomacy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Kelly

This rapid review focuses on Global Health Diplomacy and defines it as a method of interaction between the different stakeholders of the public health sector in a bid to promote representation, cooperation, promotion of the right to health and improvement of health systems for vulnerable populations on a global scale. It is the link between health and international relations. GHD has various actors including states, intergovernmental organizations, private companies, public-private partnerships and non-governmental organizations. Foreign policies can be integrated into national health in various ways i.e., designing institutions to govern practices regarding health diplomacy (i.e., health and foreign affairs ministries), creating and promoting norms and ideas that support foreign policy integration and promoting policies that deal with specific issues affecting the different actors in the GHD arena to encourage states to integrate them into their national health strategies. GHD is classified into core diplomacy – where there are bilateral and multilateral negotiations which may lead to binding agreements, multistakeholder diplomacy – where there are multilateral and bilateral negotiations which do not lead to binding agreements and informal diplomacy – which are interactions between other actors in the public health sector i.e., NGOs and Intergovernmental Organizations. The US National Security Strategy of 2010 highlighted the matters to be considered while drafting a health strategy as: the prevalence of the disease, the potential of the state to treat the disease and the value of affected areas. The UK Government Strategy found the drivers of health strategies to be self-interest (protecting security and economic interests of the state), enhancing the UK’s reputation, and focusing on global health to help others. The report views health diplomacy as a field which requires expertise from different disciplines, especially in the field of foreign policy and public health. The lack of diplomatic expertise and health expertise have been cited as barriers to integrating health into foreign policies. States and other actors should collaborate to promote the right to health globally.

Author(s):  
Lawrence O. Gostin ◽  
Benjamin Mason Meier

This chapter introduces the foundational importance of human rights for global health, providing a theoretical basis for the edited volume by laying out the role of human rights under international law as a normative basis for public health. By addressing public health harms as human rights violations, international law has offered global standards by which to frame government responsibilities and evaluate health practices, providing legal accountability in global health policy. The authors trace the historical foundations for understanding the development of human rights and the role of human rights in protecting and promoting health since the end of World War II and the birth of the United Nations. Examining the development of human rights under international law, the authors introduce the right to health as an encompassing right to health care and underlying determinants of health, exploring this right alongside other “health-related human rights.”


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Magnusson ◽  
I-Z Jama

Abstract The Right to health framework supports available, accessible and acceptable health care of high quality for all (AAAQ). Health of migrants often worsen in the new country. AAAQ may be hindered by poverty, discrimination, health cares' shortcomings and misunderstandings, respectively. Advocating for marginalised groups' Right to health include action. Interventions based on shared influence, participation and control need to be launched. Cultural mediators (CM), i.e. persons that are knowledgeable in both cultures and with networks in migrant groups help overcome lingual problems, lack of trust and uneven power relations. This resource needs to be further examined. How can a CM strengthen AAAQ in a public health setting? Women with Somalian origin living in an underserved neighborhood in Sweden contacted the Public Health Unit of a local hospital, asking for support for a health focused group-activity. Weight loss after delivery was a primary concern. Women gathered monthly 2018-19. The objective was to support healthy life style habits drawing on issues raised by the women. The intervention was conducted by group talks, led by the CM and a public health planner. Methods were based on Social Cognitive Theory focusing on self-efficacy. The CM recruited women, helped them to find the venue, encouraged them to trust the public health planner and broadened perspectives to include female genital mutilation, children's food, how to seek care and workforce issues. Trust developed over time. 70 women participated. Reported gains were raised awareness of ones' rights, increased self-efficacy in relation to food, physical activity and how to support children to a healthy life style. Support for a healthy lifestyle was made more available, accessible and acceptable by the cooperation with the CM, as was the quality of the support. A CM bridges distances regarding spoken language, trust and cultural understanding. S/he puts forward perspectives and needs from the group in question Key messages The Right to health framework highlights areas that need to be in focus when advocating for health equity. Health care workers in settings with many migrants should strive to include cultural mediators in planning, execution and evaluation of interventions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (11) ◽  
pp. 2863-2869
Author(s):  
Nataliya Gutorova ◽  
Vitalii Pashkov ◽  
Tetyana Kaganovska

The aim: To study the legal and regulatory framework for ensuring the right to health of patients depending on the legal status of coronavirus vaccines in different countries as an essential element influencing the right to public health and other rights of citizens. Materials and methods: In this paper, we study the legal norms and scientific positions on the above issue using generalized information from scientific journals that use scientific methods from a medical and legal point of view. This article is based on dialectical, comparative, analytical, synthetic, and complex research methods. Using the above methods, we studied the attitudes of different categories of citizens to vaccination against coronavirus disease through questionnaires on the following issues: attitudes to vaccination in general; motivation for vaccination, in case of consent to vaccination; reasons for refusal of vaccination. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on vaccination and ensuring the rights of citizens to health care was also analyzed. Results: Proper legal regulation of the right to health depending on the legal status of the vaccines is important in order to implement restrictive measures to combat COVID-19 and, accordingly, to prevent the possible spread of a pandemic in the public health system. Conclusions: Ensuring the right to health and applying restrictive measures to prevent the spread of a pandemic is an essential element of the public health system. However, the question of the legal status of vaccines is crucial to prevent the spread of the disease. That is, it is essential to go through all the stages of clinical trials for the vaccines used. Their safety and effectiveness and proving the fact that the harm of vaccination is much less than the harm of the spread of coronavirus disease. In the process of ensuring the right to health, including by making compulsory vaccination against COVID-19, legal framework and practice are critical components that aim to minimize the potential hazards that threaten the health and lives of the population.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Mohammed Mustapha Namadi

Corruption is pervasive in Nigeria at all levels. Thus, despite recent gains in healthcare provision, the health sector faces numerous corruption related challenges. This study aims at examining areas of corruption in the health sector with specific focus on its types and nature. A sample size of 480 respondents aged 18 years and above was drawn from the eight Metropolitan Local Government Areas of Kano State, using the multistage sampling technique. The results revealed evidence of corrupt practices including those related to unnecessary-absenteeism, diversion of patients from the public health facilities to the private sector, diverting money meant for the purchase of equipment, fuel and diesel, bribery, stealing of medications, fraud, misappropriation of medications and unjustifiable reimbursement claims. In order to resolve the problem of corrupt practices in the healthcare sector, the study recommended the need for enforcement of appropriate code of ethics guiding the conduct of the health professionals, adoption of anti-corruption strategies, and strengthening the government monitoring system to check corruption in public health sector in order to ensure equitable access to healthcare services among the under-privileged people in the society.


Author(s):  
Effy Vayena ◽  
Lawrence Madoff

“Big data,” which encompasses massive amounts of information from both within the health sector (such as electronic health records) and outside the health sector (social media, search queries, cell phone metadata, credit card expenditures), is increasingly envisioned as a rich source to inform public health research and practice. This chapter examines the enormous range of sources, the highly varied nature of these data, and the differing motivations for their collection, which together challenge the public health community in ethically mining and exploiting big data. Ethical challenges revolve around the blurring of three previously clearer boundaries: between personal health data and nonhealth data; between the private and the public sphere in the online world; and, finally, between the powers and responsibilities of state and nonstate actors in relation to big data. Considerations include the implications for privacy, control and sharing of data, fair distribution of benefits and burdens, civic empowerment, accountability, and digital disease detection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Jevtic ◽  
C Bouland

Abstract Public health professionals (PHP) have a dual task in climate change. They should persuade their colleagues in clinical medicine of the importance of all the issues covered by the GD. The fact that the health sector contributes to the overall emissions of 4.4% speaks to the lack of awareness within the health sector itself. The issue of providing adequate infrastructure for the health sector is essential. Strengthening the opportunities and development of the circular economy within healthcare is more than just a current issue. The second task of PHP is targeting the broader population. The public health mission is being implemented, inter alia, through numerous activities related to environmental monitoring and assessment of the impact on health. GD should be a roadmap for priorities and actions in public health, bearing in mind: an ambitious goal of climate neutrality, an insistence on clean, affordable and safe energy, a strategy for a clean and circular economy. GD provides a framework for the development of sustainable and smart transport, the development of green agriculture and policies from field to table. It also insists on biodiversity conservation and protection actions. The pursuit of zero pollution and an environment free of toxic chemicals, as well as incorporating sustainability into all policies, is also an indispensable part of GD. GD represents a leadership step in the global framework towards a healthier future and comprises all the non-EU members as well. The public health sector should consider the GD as an argument for achieving goals at national levels, and align national public health policies with the goals of this document. There is a need for stronger advocacy of health and public-health interests along with incorporating sustainability into all policies. Achieving goals requires the education process for healthcare professionals covering all of topics of climate change, energy and air pollution to a much greater extent than before.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e039242
Author(s):  
Pragashnie Govender

IntroductionEarly childhood is a critical time when the benefits of early interventions are intensified, and the adverse effects of risk can be reduced. For the optimal provision of early intervention, professionals in the field are required to have specialised knowledge and skills in implementing these programmes. In the context of South Africa, there is evidence to suggest that therapists are ill-prepared to handle the unique challenges posed in neonatal intensive care units and wards with at-risk infants in the first few weeks of life. This is attributed to several reasons; however, irrespective of the causative factors, the need to bridge this knowledge-to-practice gap remains essential.Methods and analysisThis study is a multimethod stakeholder-driven study using a scoping review followed by an appreciative inquiry and Delphi process that will aid in the development, implementation and evaluation of a knowledge translation intervention to bridge knowledge-gaps in occupational and physiotherapists working in the field. Therapists currently working in the public health sector will be recruited for participation in the various stages of the study. The analysis will occur via thematic analysis for qualitative data and percentages and frequencies for descriptive quantitative data. Issues around trustworthiness and rigour, and reliability and validity, will be ensured within each of the phases, by use of a content validity index and inter-rater reliability for the Delphi survey; thick descriptions, peer debriefing, member checking and an audit trail for the qualitative data.Ethics and disseminationThe study has received full ethical approval from the Health Research and Knowledge Management Directorate of the Department of Health and a Biomedical Research Ethics Committee. The results will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals and disseminated to the relevant stakeholders within this study.


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