Category: General

Health is no longer seen solely as a product of development, but is now also understood to be one of the keys to economic growth. Good health can be a major source of economic and social development. The rapid transition out of poverty of Pacific rim countries was aided by an increase in life expectancy […]

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was established in 1995 following a resolution by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It is the successor of the Global Programme on AIDS of the World Health Organization, and is a new kind of entity in the UN System, uniting ten UN organizations and also […]

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1946. Its core objective is to improve the health of the world’s children. It has an extensive global health presence and strong partnerships with governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the national and community level. After WHO, UNICEF plays the most […]

Established in 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) is the specialized UN agency responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. Its stated objective is “the attainment by all peoples of […]

The foreign policies of the European Union and European countries have played an increasingly important role in the politics of global health. On the one hand, policies have defended rather narrow domestic economic interests, mostly in the context of WTO and TRIPS, and in relation to the migration of health workers from the South to […]

The European Commission working in cooperation with Member State institutions supports an extensive array of disease specific surveillance networks. Short descriptions of each network can be obtained from the website of the Commission’s Directorate General for Public Health and Consumer Affairs and by following the links below. European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS) European Influenza […]

European Union institutions increasingly acknowledge the need to include civil society in their policy processes – particularly in health – and have created a special European Public Health Forum to dialogue with non-governmental organizations and patient groups. The Commission has had frequent consultations with civil society in decision-making relating to health, for example, the extensive […]

The European Union is clearly becoming a central actor in global health, but its role is still emerging and changing with the possible ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and in response to the European health strategy. For this reason it is timely to examine: The global health role of the European Union, the impacts of […]

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the principal international institution for the management of international trade. It was created at the Uruguay round of trade talks in 1994, when it was agreed to transform the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) into a permanent institution. WTO is an intergovernmental institution of 149 member states, […]

Health is now one of the largest markets in the world, accounting for some 10 per cent of global GDP. Sectors that endanger health – such as tobacco, alcohol and junk food – are amongst the most influential global industries and it is increasingly recognized that health is a cause of economic growth, as well […]