[EQ] Foreign policy and global public health: working together towards common goals

Foreign policy and global public health: working together towards common goals

 

Margaret Chan,a Jonas Gahr Støre b & Bernard Kouchner c

a Director, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

b Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, Norway.

c Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Paris, France

 

Bulletin of the World Health Organization | July 2008, 86 (7)

 

Available online at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/7/08-056002.pdf

 

 

“…..Pandemics, emerging diseases and bioterrorism are readily understood as direct threats to national and global security. But health issues are also important in other core functions of foreign policy, such as pursuing economic growth, fostering development, and supporting human rights and human dignity. Health is today a growing concern in foreign policy….”

 

A key event in this new era of global health diplomacy was the recent World Health Assembly resolution on public health and intellectual property (WHA 61.21) demonstrating what can be achieved when public health experts and diplomats work together.

The successful outcome of the Intergov­ernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property was due to the flexibility Member States demonstrated in nego­tiating the global strategy and plan of action. The resolution means a more proactive approach can be taken in the quest for innovation of, and equi­table access to, life-saving and health-promoting interventions…..”

 

 

WHO Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Propertyurib

In May 2008, the Sixty-first World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA 61.21:
Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property
Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property [pdf, 154 kb]

 

 

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