Global Health
AIMS & OBJECTIVES
The programme is designed to give students an introduction to global health. It aims to
enable students to:
 gain an understanding of health and the provision of healthcare in different countries
and cultures worldwide
 understand the local factors that affect a population’s health and the global factors
that shape health across the world
 understand the political and economic environment in which global health policy is
formed and delivered.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
The programme consists of 3 compulsory course units, 1.5 units of which is a project of the
student’s choice. There is a further 1 unit of optional courses.
COMPULSORY MODULES
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Global Health Policy (1 unit)
Health, Poverty and Development (0.5 unit)
Global Health Project (1.5 units).
OPTIONAL MODULES
Students must take TWO from:
Global Maternal and Child Health (0.5 unit) (AND) Global communicable and NonCommunicable Diseases (0.5 unit) (AND) Anthropological Perspectives on Global Health
(0.5 unit) (AND) Conflict, Humanitarianism and Health (0.5 unit).
CIHD3001: GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY
1.0 unit
TERM 1 & 2, Shivani Singh
Assessment: group poster presentation 50%, oral exam 50%
This module examines health and health care in its global context. It involves analysis of the
key stakeholders in policy formulation and their involvement in changing patterns of health
care provision. The activities of governments, NGOs, supranational institutions and
corporations in providing health care are examined in the context of complex global social,
political and economic trends.
CIHD3002: HEALTH, POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT
0.5 unit
TERM 1, Chris Willott
Assessment: written essay 50%, unseen written exam 50%
This module introduces students to some of the key debates in international development,
including those surrounding poverty, aid, trade and globalization. The module shows how
these debates also underpin our understanding of why improvements or declines in health
occur in different countries. Students will learn some basic economic theory and a range of
political and sociological ideas that assist in understanding the state of the world today.
CIHD3003: CONFLICT, HUMANITARIANISM AND HEALTH
0.5 unit
TERM 2, Ilan Kelman
Assessment: written essay 100%
The conflict, humanitarianism and health module examines the causes of violent conflict and
its effects on health. It discusses key policy issues in contemporary humanitarianism and
assesses the
effectiveness of humanitarian interventions and organisations. Students will also engage
with particular topics related to these areas, including the policy responses to migration in
conflict situations and the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions and reconciliation
initiatives in divided societies.
CIHD3004: GLOBAL COMMUNICABLE AND NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
0.5 unit
TERM 2, William Newsholme and Ben Killingley
Assessment: unseen written exam 100%
In this module students are introduced to key principles of public health through the study of
specific diseases. Students learn about the management of these diseases both at the
individual and population levels and the challenges faced in dealing with them in the context
of poverty and poor-quality services. Public policy and global campaigns are examined in
relation to these issues.
CIHD3005: GLOBAL MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
0.5 unit
TERM 2, Audrey Prost and Helen Allott
Assessment: oral exam 90%, group presentation 10%
The module provides an introduction to the health problems facing mothers and children
across the world. The seminars address the main causes of child and maternal mortality and
the socio-cultural factors affecting them. Malnutrition, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding
and the perinatal period are examined in detail as well as important infectious diseases such
as vaccine preventable diseases, HIV, malaria and diarrhoeal disease. The impact of public
health programmes addressing these diseases is explored.
CIHD3006: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBAL HEALTH
0.5 unit
TERM 2, Audrey Prost and Rodney Reynolds
Assessment: oral exam 100%
This course introduces students to the anthropology of global health. The general aims of
the module are to link illness experience with socio-political factors; understand cultural
influences on health and sickness in a variety of contexts; appreciate the celebration of and
resistance to biomedicine in local contexts; and develop cultural and personal empathy
through an appreciation of radically different conceptualisations of sickness.
CIHD3901: GLOBAL HEALTH PROJECT
1.5 units
Chris Willott
Assessment: project presentation 10%, project 90%
The project component of the course provides students with the experience of creating an
original piece of work on a global health issue. The project module takes place throughout
the year and is self-directed with support from a supervisor. At the end the student is
required to produce a 10,000 word dissertation.
EXAMPLE PROJECT TOPICS
Low female status in north India
Transitional justice and health
Singaporean health system and equity
Sexual violence in India
Pacification of the Brazilian favelas
Autism in the UK and US
Medicalization of Female Genital Cutting
Transgender health in Thailand
Unsafe abortion and human rights in Latin America
Indigenous access to health in the Andes
Organ sales in Iran
Mobile phones and child health in Africa
International aid and Palestine
Uninsured Americans
Maternal mortality in Afghanistan
Traditional medicine in Zimbabwe
Farmer suicide in Punjab
Russian alcohol crisis
Pharmaceutical patents and drug access
Hepatitis C in Egypt
Disaster tourism
Women's empowerment and health outcomes
Humanitarian aid in conflict
Mental health in China.
PUBLICATIONS BY STUDENTS RESULTING FROM BSc
Agwu K, Llewelyn M et al. (2009). Compensation for the brain drain from developing
countries. Lancet 2009; 373: 1665-1666.
Anwar E, Hesketh T (2008). Child Labour. Student BMJ 16: 248-250
Baker P (2009). On the relationship between economic growth and health improvement:
Some lessons for health-conscious developing countries. Radical Statistics 98.
Boutros, S, Skordis, J (2010). HIV/AIDS surveillance in Egypt: Current status and future
challenges. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal. Volume 16 (3): 251-258.
Costello A, Abbas M, Allen A, Ball S, Bell S, Bellamy R, Friel S, Groce N, Johnson A, Kett
M, Lee M, Levy C, Maslin M, McCoy D, McGuire B, Montgomery H, Napier D, Pagel C, Patel
J, de Oliveira JA, Redclift N, Rees H, Rogger D, Scott J, Stephenson J, Twigg J, Wolff J,
Patterson C (2009). Managing the health effects of climate change: Lancet and University
College London Institute for Global Health Commission. Lancet 373(9676):1693-733.
Ellis, J, Morarji, N, North, S, Walpole, S et al (2007). Global health and foreign policy
Lancet 369 (9574):1689-90.
Ghinai I, Willott C, Dadari I and Larson H (in press). Listening to the rumours: what the
northern Nigerian polio vaccine boycott can tell us ten years on. Global Public Health.
Khan S, Hesketh T (2010). Deteriorating situation for street children in Pakistan: a
consequence of war. Arch Dis Child. 2010 Aug;95(8):655-7.
McCoy D, Kembhavi G, Patel J, Luintel A (2009). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's
grant-making programme for global health. Lancet 373(9675):1645-53.
Willott C, Blum N, Burch W, Page B and Rowson M (2012). The Global Doctor. London:
UCL Institute for Global Health and Institute of Education.
USEFUL INFORMATION
The course is mainly lecture and library-based. The teaching time is fairly small but there is a
large amount of material to read for each module. Each module consists of a lecture and a
tutorial each week. The lecture provides students with an overview of a particular issue,
which is then built on through readings. Tutorials are either a discussion of these readings or
a debate or role play. The emphasis will be on students developing their own ideas and
arguments around the lectures and reading material.
THE INSTITUTE
The Integrated BSc is run by the UCL Institute for Global Health undergraduate teaching
office. The aim of the undergraduate department is to develop and promote teaching on
global health in the medical curriculum. The Centre is based at 30 Guilford Street, near
Russell Square.
For more information regarding the course, admission and entry requirements please
contact Chris Willott, Course Director (c.willott@ucl.ac.uk, 020 7905 2626) or Nike Adigun,
Course Administrator (n.adigun@ucl.ac.uk. Tel: 020 7905 2126).
Further information is available on the department’s website:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/igh/undergraduate