Category: International EM
Keywords: global, health, accountability, sovereignty (PubMed Search)
Posted: 6/5/2013 by Andrea Tenner, MD
(Updated: 4/26/2024)
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General Information:
-The global health world is faced with an unprecedented challenge of a trio of threats:
1. Infections, undernutrition, reproductive health issues
2. Rising global burden of non-communicable diseases and risk factors
3. Challenges arising from globalization (climate change and trade politics)
-Definitions of global health are variable and can emphasize anything from types of health problems, populations of interest, geographic area or a specific mission. This makes governance and analysis difficult.
-During the past decade there has been an explosion of more than 175 initiatives, funds, agencies, and donors. Health is increasingly influenced by decisions made in other global policymaking areas.
-The major governance challenges for global health are:
1. Defining national sovereignty in the context of deepening health interdependence
2. Maximizing cross-sector interdependence
3. Developing clear mechanisms of accountability for non-state actors
Relevance to the US physician:
The Global Health System and its governance affects our ability to work effectively within the US and how we structure efforts to expand the reach of timely, effective emergency care worldwide.
Bottom Line:
The Global Health System has become more complex. Any development of Emergency Care Systems must take into account the complexity of actors in the field of global health.
The University of Maryland Section of Global Emergency Health
Author: Emilie J. B. Calvello, MD, MPH
An interactive graphic can be found at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1109339?query=featured_home
Frenk, J. and Moon, S. Governance Challenges in Global Health. NEJM 2013; 368: 936 – 42.
