Global Health Governance

In the light of scares about potential pandemics such as swine fever and avian flu, the issue of global health and its governance is of increasing concern to scholars and practitioners of medicine, public health, social work, and international politics alike. This concern has arisen from recognition of the interdependency of the health of populations, and the consequences of such interdependency for susceptibility to ill health, and wider threats to security and development. The multiplicity of health concerns, the actors infected, affected and involved in addressing these concerns, and the increased amounts of public and private financing being channelled towards combating global health have led to complex structures of governance. These structures attempt to address the socio-economic and political factors that both determine ill health and undermine effective ways of ensuring good health throughout the populations of the world. These two over-arching commitments take place within the context of global poverty, development and security concerns. Health is thus no longer the problem of individual states or individuals, but presents a global problem necessitating global co-operation, coherence and governance.This book unravels the complexity and confusion surrounding global health governance. It provides a comprehensive look at conceptions of global health governance, old and new actors, the public and private, themes and approaches and emerging trends.