Towards a common definition of global health

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jeffrey Koplan, Emory University; Christopher T Bond, Emory University; Michael H Merson, Duke University; Srinath K Reddy, Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi, India; Mario Henry Rodriguez, nstituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Cuernavaca, Mexico; Nelson K Sewankambo, Makerere University; Judith N Wasserheit, University of Washington
• Language: English
• Date: 2009-06-06
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60332-9
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: LANCET
• Volume: 373
• Issue: 9679
• Start Page: 1993
• End Page: 1995
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; General & Internal Medicine; Medicine, General & Internal
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Epidemiology

Abstract

Global health is fashionable. It provokes a great deal of media, student, and faculty interest, has driven the establishment or restructuring of several academic programmes, is supported by governments as a crucial component of foreign policy,1 and has become a major philanthropic target. Global health is derived from public health and international health, which, in turn, evolved from hygiene and tropical medicine. However, although frequently referenced, global health is rarely defined. When it is, the definition varies greatly and is often little more than a rephrasing of a common definition of public health or a politically correct updating of international health. Therefore, how should global health be defined?