In the Name of Global Health: Trends in Academic Institutions

Abstract

This paper describes accelerating development of programs in global health, particularly in North American academic institutions, and sets this phenomenon in the context of earlier programs in tropical medicine and international health that originated predominantly in Europe. Like these earlier programs, the major focus of the new global health programs is on the health needs of developing countries, and perhaps for this reason, few similar programs have emerged in academic institutions in the developing countries themselves. If global health is about the improvement of health worldwide, the reduction of disparities, and protection of societies against global threats that disregard national borders, it is essential that academic institutions reach across geographic, cultural, economic, gender, and linguistic boundaries to develop mutual understanding of the scope of global health and to create collaborative education and research programs. One indication of success would be emergence of a new generation of truly global leaders working on a shared and well-defined agenda--and doing so on equal footing.

Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames

“…Over recent years slippage in terminology from international health to 'global health, ' without defining any change in content of global health activities (other than new global funding mechanisms), has bred confusion. 18,19 The recent leap from this inadequate conception of global health to use of the term 'planetary health' 20 disingenuously claimed to offer the new insight of a healthy planet as essential for human health, while others whose work was not acknowledged have repeatedly articulated this in the past.…”

Global Health and Tropical Medicine in the Twenty-First Century: A Renewed Interest in the Understanding and the Control of Helminth Infections

“…This has led to the implementation of a variety of new global health programs worldwide with the ultimate goal to train, educate a new generation of health professional, and advance new scientific knowledge and novel research discoveries such that it can significantly lead towards the improvement of the health of the Bbottom billion^or the poorest populations in the world. Macfarlane et al, in 2008, wrote an elegant review of the trends and efforts by academic institutions towards global health [1].…”

Nutrigenomics for Global Health: Ethical Challenges for Underserved Populations

“…There is no common understanding of the term "global health" [3]. Global health "is a field that encompasses […], processes, and institutions needed to create the conditions for people throughout the world to attain the highest possible level of physical and mental health.…”

“…It covers disparate fields of nutrition science, which may pursue different goals and thus have multiple facets. Consequently, different ethical issues emerge, particularly in regard to the extent to which nutrigenomics may improve global health.There is no common understanding of the term "global health" [3]. Global health "is a field that encompasses […], processes, and institutions needed to create the conditions for people throughout the world to attain the highest possible level of physical and mental health.…”