while the right to health is increasingly referenced in sustainable development goal (sdg) discussions, its contribution to global health and development remains subject to considerable debate. this hypothesis explores the potential influence of the right to health on the formulation of health goals in 4 major sdg reports. we analyse these reports through a social constructivist lens which view...

politics is not the ghost in the machine of global health policy. conceptually, it makes little sense to argue otherwise, while history is replete with examples of individuals and movements engaging politically in global health policy. were one looking for ghosts, a more likely candidate would be democracy, which is currently under attack by a new global health technocracy. civil society moveme...

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shiffman rightly raises questions about who exercises power in global health, suggesting power is a complex concept, and the way it is exercised is often opaque. power that is not based on financial strength but on knowledge or experience, is difficult to estimate, and yet it may provide the legitimacy to make moral claims on what is, or ought to be, on global health agendas. twenty years ago p...

Global health networks—webs of individuals and organizations linked by a shared concern for a particular condition—have proliferated over the past quarter century. In a recent editorial in this journal, I presented evidence that their effectiveness in addressing four challenges—problem definition, positioning, coalitionbuilding and governance—shapes their ability to influence policy. The editor...

in this commentary, we endorse concerns about the health impact of the trans-pacific partnership (tpp), paying particular attention to its mechanisms for investor state dispute settlement. we then describe the different, judgeled approach being advocated by the european commission team negotiating the trans-atlantic trade and investment partnership, arguing that, while not perfect, it offers si...

this article contends that legitimacy in the exercise of power comes from the consent of those subject to it. in global health, this implies that the participation of poor country citizens is required for the legitimacy of major actors and institutions. but a review of institutions and processes suggests that this participation is limited or absent. particularly because of the complex political...

Politics is not the ghost in the machine of global health policy. Conceptually, it makes little sense to argue otherwise, while history is replete with examples of individuals and movements engaging politically in global health policy. Were one looking for ghosts, a more likely candidate would be democracy, which is currently under attack by a new global health technocracy. Civil society moveme...

Gorik Ooms recently made a strong case for considering the centrality of normative premises to analyzing and understanding the underappreciated importance of the nexus of politics, power and process in global health. This critical commentary raises serious questions for the practice and study of global health and global health governance. First and foremost, this commentary underlines the impor...