The term global health may mean different things to different people and in different contexts, and so it becomes harder to say what is and what is not global health. This module will explore the discipline of global health and help learners with basic vocabulary in the field global health. And while students may be familiar with the key institutions in the U.S. healthcare system, this module will explore the roles of international institutions in global health, so that students are more familiar with the “who’s who” around the world.
Learning objectives
- Compare and contrast definitions and activities in public health and global health
- Describe some of the guiding principles of public health work
- Describe the Sustainable Development Goals
- Describe the roles and relationships of the major entities influencing global health and development
Pre-Module Baseline Assessment
What is global health?
Take a minute to reflect on your responses to each of the following photos. What about the image or concept represented is or is not global health? Why or why not?
Image credit: CDC.gov
Image credit: CDC.gov
Image credit: Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse—Getty Images.
Image credit: BBC News Getty Images.
Image credit: SeGoPu2019, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Image credit: DFID—UK Department for International Development, CC BY 2.0.
Image credit: IAM Media Office, GFDL 1.3.
Adapted from Patrick Lee et al.
Introduction to global health
- Skolnik R. Global Health 101. 4thed. Chapter 1: The principles and goals of global health.
- Fried LP, Bentley ME, Buekens P, et al. Global health is public health. Lancet. 2010;375(9714):535-537. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60203-6
- Koplan JP, Bond TC, Merson MH, et al. Towards a common definition of global health. Lancet. 2009;373(9679):1993-1995. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60332-9
- Szlezák NA, Bloom BR, Jamison DT, et al. The global health system: actors, norms, and expectations in transition. PLoS Med. 2010;7(1):e1000183. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000183
- Frenk J, Gómez-Dantés O, Moon S. From sovereignty to solidarity: a renewed concept of global health for an era of complex interdependence. Lancet. 2014;383(9911):94-97. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62561-1
- What is Global Health (Part 1)? (8:56 min)
- How is Global Health Done (Part 2)? (5:46 min)
- Who does Global Health (Part 3)? (8:50 min)
Used with permission from Elizabeth Rose.
On the Slack discussion board:
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- Describe various sources of funding for global programs. Include the following:
- Governmental
- Private foundation
- NGO (non-governmental organizations)
- Describe the role of non-governmental organizations in global health. How does their involvement affect and/or complicate global health development and sustainability?
- Describe various sources of funding for global programs. Include the following:
Locate the websites for, and research, the following major entities influencing global health and development (listed below by acronym). Describe the focus areas and relationship between these organizations.
- For students planning an immersive international clinical/non-clinical elective, identify the role and activities (if any) these entities are involved in the country you will travel to.
- For students without a planned international elective, identify a country of interest to you, and identify the role and activities (if any) these entities are involved in the country of interest.
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- World Bank
- WHO
- UN
- UNAIDS
- CDC
- UNICEF
- Global Fund
- Gates Foundation
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Decolonizing global health
Now that you’ve spent some time in the basics of who/what of global health, it should be obvious that funding streams often go from affluent institutions and countries to impoverished countries and populations. As you can imagine, those institutions and persons working within them usually have more control to decide priorities, decide who gets the funding, and who gets the credit. With the growth of large global health institutions, there has been more recognition of this systemic inequality built into the structures that whose goal is precisely to address inequalities. This has led to a new commitment in “decolonization” within global health.
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Pai M. Decolonizing Global Health: A Moment To Reflect On A Movement. Forbes. 2021.
- TEDx Talks. Decolonizing Global Health and Drug Policy | Colleen Daniels | TEDxGVAGrad.
- TEDxTalk by Colleen Daniels, Deputy Director and Public Health Lead at Harm Reduction International.
On the Slack discussion board:
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- After completing the materials in this module, review your working definition of global health. Have you revised it? In what ways?
- In considering the decolonization in global health, what (if any) role do you see for medical students towards this effort?