The Politics of Global Health: Promise and Perils

Overview

This course engages the key issues that has led to global health being considered a major focus of international politics. Some of the key drivers include the way that globalisation has minimised the impact that the spread of disease in one area of the world can have in another.

It explores how international efforts and institutions address health issues; and how states and transnational actors contribute to the ways in which global health is understood and acted on. Particular topics and initiatives may include the World Health Organisation, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Coverage will also look at contemporary practices and structures of global health with issues covered including the way that governance structures should be set up to gather information on and implement global health efforts. It also includes the way that health issues such as the spread of disease should be managed and prioritised in terms of security as opposed to public health. Finally, these actors have shaped the way that economic measures have been set up to fund and support particular efforts to address global health issues in international politics.

In this way, the content of this course will focus on the growth and integration of global health as a key concern of political actors at the international level along with efforts in global health focused on governance, security and political economy.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of the module students will:

Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the growth and integration of global health as a key concern of political actors at the international level.

Gain an overview and understanding of the key actors and issues in political efforts in global health including those focused on governance, security and political economy.

Identify and critically reflect on the theoretical approaches and tools utilized to understand and analyse global health as an international political issue.

Critically reflect on the kinds of predicaments and inequalities that result from international political efforts to address global health issues.

Pursue independent, creative and critical thinking through both written work and group discussions.

Skills

Intellectual skills

• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field

Professional and career development skills

• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance

Organizational skills

• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways

Assessment

None