The reading ‘Global Health Governance: A Conceptual Review by Dodgson et. al. (2002)’, examines governance at the national and international levels as being a negative influence on the health needs and status of people around the world. They believe that globalizing factors such as trade, environmental and technology play a role in increasing health risks.
For example, in recent events, transborder health risks such as the coronavirus is an infectious disease that had emerged in China but has rapidly spread all over the world through national and international borders. Around a million people globally have died from this disease which is an international health governance issue.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
Place an order
Another ongoing issue is global climate change that has a negative effect on health because it affects the social health determinants including air quality, food and water, and housing. This is a problem for those living in poor, developing countries because they have issues with health in terms of access to safe drinking water, housing, health care services and most of them live in extreme poverty with little to no food to afford which increases the chance for illness and infections.
One big influence of globalization is the roles and power of neoliberal nonstate actors in governance that affect the health of people globally. Countries like the United States and Canada are examples of neoliberal powers who make decisions and create challenges for people, especially those living in developing countries who lack access to important health resources and who are not given the opportunity to participate in these decisions leading to wide inequalities between rich and poor countries, while further increasing poverty. In simple terms, global health focuses on the health of all people globally through organizations and research in order to promote health and reduce infectious disease.
On the other hand, the term health governance refers to the collective actions of a group of people, society or organization that have a common goal and come together to solve health issues. This can be either at a local, regional, national and international level. An example of international governance is the World Health Organization (WHO) whose role is to protect the health of all, especially those who are most vulnerable, and to promote universal health coverage globally. The World Health Assembly is made up of member states that come together to make possible decisions regarding health and financial policies relating to countries that are suffering. These two terms together provide a means to reduce health equity and promote global health by coming together to solve important health issues that are happening today.
The authors believe that global health governance should emphasize the need for the equal representation and participation of all governments, nonstate actors, and organizations in order to come to a collective decision through formal rules in order to help reduce global health issues. It is important to include all sectors of the economy such as health, education and employment into consideration when making decisions because it can be beneficial and fair for all in terms of health and global health.