A New Approach to Global Health Governance

The following is a guest post by my colleague Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Over the past fifteen years, global health has become increasingly politicized. Development commitments through the Millennium Development Goals, foreign policy interests, and global health security concerns have been primary drivers of global health governance. The security approach has been successful in mobilizing Western governments and leaders—such as the Group of Seven (G7)—to address public health emergencies of international concern. Now this cohort of leaders is seeking to expand efforts to address other global health challenges, such as inequity and universal health coverage. This new political environment requires a novel approach to global health governance. On the one hand, classic development aid is shrinking, and on the other, the global health policy space is expanding rapidly. What’s more, rising powers have discovered that public health aid can serve as a vital element in efforts to build alliances and charm new friends. This occurs at a time when the growing refugee and humanitarian crisis requires new financing models.

In this podcast, I discuss these and other questions with Ilona Kickbusch, director of the Global Health Programme at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Kickbusch is known around the world as a leading scholar in global health and an indispensable advisor to international organizations, government agencies, and private sector leaders on policies and strategies to promote public health. We are thrilled to welcome her to CFR.