Global Health Policy

Global Health Policy (GHP)

Global Health Policy (GHP) has increased in importance in the last two decades, as a field of study, research, and practice. However, until now it was not possible in academic circles to agree on a common definition.

From an epidemiological perspective, global health policy is concerned with health problems where the causes or remedies are outside of the competencies of nation states. In a narrower sense, it aims to foster the health and health equality of all people. The term is derived from the terms “public health” and “international health”, although the latter has its origins in hygiene and tropical medicine and has been largely supplanted by the term “global”.

The basis of global health policy is formed by an equally broad and differentiated understanding of policymaking. At the same time, it is predominantly about evening-up health disparities within societies, as well as at the national level and between the Global South and the Global North.

Since health policy is linked to almost all policy areas, it is rightly seen as a cross-cutting issue. The problems with coherence, in particular the necessity of coordinating with foreign policy, security policy, development policy, trade policy, human rights policy, environmental policy, climate policy, and agriculture policy, are therefore both a challenge and also an opportunity for this research area.

It is an area of research that offers countless possibilities for innovative approaches and interdisciplinary research in harmony with the “Health in All Policies” (HiAP)¹ approach. Against this background, the focus is concentrated on designing solutions and development formats for dialogue in the following areas:

• Global Health Justice: Explaining patterns of health inequalities in a global context
• Global Health Security: One Health, transmissible diseases (pandemics), terror, conflict, climate change, sustainable consumption
• Global Health Regulation: Health actors within the global multilevel system, including international organisations, nation states, NGOs, pharmaceutical companies, foundations, think tanks
• Digitalisation as Opportunity and Challenge: artificial intelligence, telemedicine, e-health, m-tracking, health data spaces

The goal of this research focus is, on the one hand, to move the global dimension of the health policy agenda more strongly into the focus of students, practitioners, and the interested general public and, on the other hand, to contribute to the scientific discourse through innovative research.

^{₁ As a concept, HiAP points to the importance of policymaking across different sectors that all impact health, such as transport, housing, employment, public safety, and education.}