Global Health

Abstract

Global health is a field of research and practice that examines how assemblages of global processes converge on a health issue, problem, policy, or outcome within an identified social context. The goal of global health is to reduce health inequities and to contribute to the development of salutogenic social systems. This entry focuses on the five dimensions of globalization and health that form the core of social and behavioral sciences inquiry: (1) the social causes or determinants of health inequities; (2) the global circulation of science and technology and its impact on local populations and communities; (3) the development, circulation, and implementation of health policy; (4) global health governance; and (5) the effects of global environmental change on health.