A number of individuals and organizations have considerable influence over the selection of global health priorities and strategies. For some that influence derives from control over financial resources. For others it comes from expertise and claims to moral authority—what can be termed, respectively, epistemic and normative power. In contrast to financial power, we commonly take for granted th...

striking disparities in access to healthcare and in health outcomes are major characteristics of health across the globe. this inequitable state of global health and how it could be improved has become a highly popularized field of academic study. in a series of articles in this journal the roles of power and politics in global health have been addressed in considerable detail. three points are...

A recent article by Sol Benatar calls on the global health community to reassess its approach to twin crises of global poverty and climate change. I build on his article by challenging mainstream narratives that claim satisfactory progress in efforts to reduce poverty and improve health for all, and arguing that any eradication of poverty that is consistent with environmental sustainability wil...

Members of the 67th World Health Assembly in 2014 were presented with a framework document to guide World Health Organization (WHO) engagement with non-state actors, a key part of WHO reform kick-started in 2011. According to this document, non-state actors include four distinct constituencies: i) nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), ii) private sector entities; iii) philanthropic foundations;...

This article agrees with recent arguments suggesting that normative and epistemic power is rife within global health policy and provides further examples of such. However, in doing so, it is argued that it is equally important to recognize that global health is, and always will be, deeply political and that some form of power is not only necessary for the system to advance, but also to try and ...

in a recent article, gorik ooms has drawn attention to the normative underpinnings of the politics of global health. we claim that ooms is indirectly submitting to a liberal conception of politics by framing the politics of global health as a question of individual morality. drawing on the theoretical works of chantal mouffe, we introduce a conflictual concept of the political as an alternative...

members of the 67th world health assembly in 2014 were presented with a framework document to guide world health organization (who) engagement with non-state actors, a key part of who reform kick-started in 2011. according to this document, non-state actors include four distinct constituencies: i) nongovernmental organizations (ngos), ii) private sector entities; iii) philanthropic foundations;...

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...

There is a growing global market in healthcare and patients. And while there is a small body of evidence emerging around this phenomenon commonly known as medical tourism there remain significant unanswered policy and research questions which need to be addressed. We outline some of the key issues set against the six key disciplinary preoccupations of the journal: epidemiology, health economics...

This article explores the politics of knowledge involved in understanding and responding to epidemics in an era of global health governance and biosecurity. It develops and applies an approach focused on how multiple, competing narratives about epidemics are constructed, mobilized and interact, and selectively justify pathways of intervention and response. A detailed ethnographic case study of ...