Global health is an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global health emphasises transnational health issues, determinants, and solutions; involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration; and is a synthesis of population-based prevention with individual-level clinical care – The Lancet
I was the founder Director of the Office of Global Health at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University in London, Ontario. In addition, I have taught courses on Global Health at the University of Waterloo, McMaster University, and at Western University. My interests in this area include the impact, experience, and training of overseas electives and have published two books on the subject and have led research on family medicine around the world www.globalfamilymedicine.org .
Key tenets of global public health – Lancet
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Belief that global health is public health. Public health is global health for the public good.
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Dedication to better health for all, with particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable populations, and a basic commitment to health as a human right.
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Belief in a global perspective on scientific inquiry and on the translation of knowledge into practice, not limited by political boundaries, but sensitive to contextual issues that might influence illness, the design or choice of interventions, or health systems.
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A scientific approach to health promotion and disease prevention that examines broad determinants of health including, but not limited to, delivery of medical care, and creates integrated approaches in clinic, community, and government.
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Commitment to an interdisciplinary approach and collaborative team work to analyse problems of populations. Global concerns, such as climate change, and cross-disciplinary issues, such as zoonotic diseases and human health, involve close collaborations between medicine, public health, veterinary medicine, and many other disciplines.
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Multilevel systems-based interventions deployed to address the interactive contributions of societal and health-governance issues, corporate responsibility, and environmental, behavioural, and biological risk factors are key.
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Comprehensive frameworks for financing and structuring health policies and services that support community-based and clinical prevention integrated with health-care delivery and deployment of a balanced workforce of physicians, nurses, and other providers.