Governing Health in a Global Context

Full course description

This course addresses issues concerning the political economy of global health. Students will be familiarized with the academic debate about processes of globalisation and their impact on the access of people to health, planetary health and health care in different settings. The focus on governance in context of globalization reveals shifts in power, but also how questions of accountability matter in different ways. The course focuses on mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion and processes of control and influence and fosters critical reflection on the neoliberalist paradigm as well as the unintended consequences of governing health and effects of globalization. Furthermore, students are introduced to the interplay between the main actors –active at global level (WHO, WTO, Eu etc.), national level (public, private, NGOs etc) and local level (civil society, patients, communities etc)– in the field of health, and to the ways in which this interplay shapes the functioning of health systems (including the role of science, technology and innovation and health work force issues), the way they are financed and questions of accountability. The unit ends by looking at the agenda for global health and the challenges and opportunities involved, including reflections on good governance, implications for health equity and equality.

The course Governing Health in a Global Context involves a skills component as it intends students to be able to examine, analyze and understand the governance challenges faced by health systems in different countries. This activity involves group exercises/assignments and role plays to think through negotiations of effective public health responses by various ‘stakeholders’ representing health, economy, industry, science, civil society and environment.