Global Health Inequities

Towards Solving Health Inequities: A Method to Identify Ideological Operation in Global Health Programs

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18094393 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 4393

Author(s):

Hani Kim ◽

Uros Novakovic

Keyword(s):

Antimicrobial Resistance ◽

Global Health ◽

Case Studies ◽

Health Inequities ◽

Health Problems ◽

Health Programs ◽

Slavoj Zizek ◽

Slavoj Žižek ◽

Relations Of Power ◽

Recurrent Nature

The function of ideology is to naturalize and maintain unequal relations of power. Making visible how ideology operates is necessary for solving health inequities grounded in inequities of resources and power. However, discerning ideology is difficult because it operates implicitly. It is not necessarily explicit in one’s stated aims or beliefs. Philosopher Slavoj Žižek conceptualizes ideology as a belief in overarching unity or harmony that obfuscates immanent tension within a system. Drawing from Žižek’s conceptualization of ideology, we identify what may be considered as ‘symptoms’ of ideological practice: (1) the recurrent nature of a problem, and (2) the implicit externalization of the cause. Our aim is to illustrate a method to identify ideological operation in health programs on the basis of its symptoms, using three case studies of persistent global health problems: inequitable access to vaccines, antimicrobial resistance, and health inequities across racialized communities. Our proposed approach for identifying ideology allows one to identify ideological practices that could not be identified by particular ideological contents. It also safeguards us from an illusory search for an emancipatory content. Critiquing ideology in general reveals possibilities that are otherwise kept invisible and unimaginable, and may help us solve recalcitrant problems such as health inequities.

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Cultural Context, Structural Determinants, and Global Health Inequities: The Role of Communication

Frontiers in Communication ◽

10.3389/fcomm.2016.00005 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Mohan J. Dutta

Keyword(s):

Global Health ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Health Inequities ◽

Structural Determinants

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Implementation Research: An Imperative for Improving Global Health and Health Inequities

Global Heart ◽

10.1016/j.gheart.2014.12.002 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Uchechukwu K. A. Sampson ◽

George A. Mensah ◽

Jagat Narula

Keyword(s):

Global Health ◽

Implementation Research ◽

Health Inequities

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Global Health Inequities

10.1007/978-1-137-40063-5 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Fernando De Maio

Keyword(s):

Global Health ◽

Health Inequities

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Relieving the tension between national health equity strategies and global health equity

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1403494819860742 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (6) ◽

pp. 608-610 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Courtney L. McNamara

Keyword(s):

Political Economy ◽

Global Health ◽

Health Equity ◽

National Health ◽

Health Inequities ◽

Health Inequity ◽

Global Political Economy ◽

New Approaches ◽

Global Health Equity ◽

Improve Health

Globally, numerous national strategies have taken aim at reducing health inequities. An ever-present tension characterizing these strategies, however, is their lack of attention to the global political economy. This commentary argues that national policies which target only domestic factors (without engaging with the global political economy) will be limited, both, in their ability to address national levels of health equity and the larger global health inequity problem. Meaningful proposals to reduce health inequities have been made that take into account a global political economy perspective. National health equity strategies could provide the lacking momentum to advance such proposals, but will require united and sustained advocacy by global health and health equity scholars. Ultimately, relieving the tension between national health equity commitments and global health equity concerns could be one of the new approaches needed to improve health equity worldwide.

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Power asymmetries in global governance for health: a conceptual framework for analyzing the political-economic determinants of health inequities

Globalization and Health ◽

10.1186/s12992-019-0516-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (S1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alexander Kentikelenis ◽

Connor Rochford

Keyword(s):

Global Health ◽

Global Governance ◽

Social Action ◽

Health Inequities ◽

The Political ◽

Economic Determinants ◽

Integrative Framework ◽

Power Asymmetries ◽

Political Economic ◽

Global Governance For Health

Abstract Background Recent scholarship has increasingly identified global power asymmetries as the root cause of health inequities. This article examines how such asymmetries manifest in global governance for health, and how this impacts health outcomes. Results We focus on the political-economic determinants of global health inequities, and how these determinants operate at different levels of social action (micro, meso, and macro) through distinct but interacting mechanisms. To clarify how these mechanisms operate, we develop an integrative framework for examining the links between global neoliberalism—the currently dominant policy paradigm premised on advancing the reach of markets and promoting ever-growing international economic integration—and global health inequities, and show how these mechanisms have macro–macro, macro–meso–macro, and macro–micro–macro manifestations. Conclusions Our approach enables the design of theoretically-nuanced empirical strategies to document the multiple ways in which the political economy entrenches or, alternatively, might ameliorate global health inequities.

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