2011 Articles

What is Global Health?

Dyar, Oliver-James; de Costa, Ayesha

The rise to prominence of the term “global health” has occurred in parallel with the popularization of globalization, an enhanced awareness of common vulnerabilities, and a feeling of increased shared responsibility for inequities present in the world today (Macfarlane, Jacobs, & Kaaya, 2008). For instance, let’s consider escalating health threats posed by climate change. By recognizing the role of globalization in driving greenhouse gas emissions, we realize how greenhouse gas emissions may impact population health not just in one region, but globally. We come to recognize how efforts to combat these issues will require substantial international collaboration. Within academia, these processes have produced a rise in the usage of the term “global health” (Macfarlane et al., 2008). Public health students today are more eager and feel better equipped to tackle the issues that global health is typically associated with. The evidence base for solutions has grown, and technological advances have facilitated easier collaboration between countries.