What can European universities do for
Global Health?
Anne M. Johnson
Professor of Infectious Disease
Epidemiology
Co-director Institute for Global Health,
UCL
Global health -a multidimensional concept• Transition from national Public health to Global Health occurs
‘where the determinants of health or health outcomes
circumvent, undermine or are oblivious to the territorial
boundaries of states and this beyond the capacity of individual
countries alone to address through domestic institutions.’
Lee K, Collin J eds. (2005) Global Change and Health
Term applied in context of:
• Global Health Diplomacy
• Global Health Security
• Global Health Policy
• Global Health vs International health vs Public Health
What is global health?
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.”
CUGH –USA Koplan et al. (2009)
Global health.... A concept in evolution
1.0
Tropical
medicine
Colonial
2.0
International
health
Cold war
Global
health 3.0
Global
health 4.0
Development aid Globalisation
Source: Peter Piot Global Health 4.0 CUGH Seattle 2010
3.0
•
•
•
•
•
High income countries
PI = North Am/Europe
Study sites
Largely biomedical
Infectious diseases
• Clinical trials,
epidemiology,
implementation
Source: Peter Piot CUGH Seattle 2010
4.0
•
•
•
•
•
Worldwide
PI = diverse
Centres of excellence
Multi-disciplinary
Broad health issues and
disparities
• Full spectrum of
translation from
discovery to
implementation science
UCL Institute for Global Health & the
Grand Challenge for Global Health
www.ucl.ac.uk/global-health/
Activities
Within UCL:
• initiating and enhancing discipline- and department-specific
programmes, research and teaching
• stimulating interdisciplinary discourse across the university
• enabling the development of activity to make possible effective
large-scale multidisciplinary approaches and interventions.
Beyond UCL:
• creating real and virtual spaces for academic discourse, in the
public-policy arena and international political processes
• exploring partnerships with other universities, government,
industry, funding bodies, trusts and charities, UK and
international agencies to support our research, education,
advocacy and public-policy initiatives
• positioning UCL as the key informant to governments, business
and the community about matters relating to global health
www.populationfootprints.org
Universal and equitable access to quality health care
depends on global and national forces
Source: Goran Tomson Global
health Europe 2010
New challenges and contexts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Growing economies (BRIC)
Global population growth, changing demography
Challenges to energy, food, and water security,
Demographic growth and ageing
Growing impact of non-communicable diseases
Migration and social movements
Acceleration of and new communication
modalities
• New technologies
New challenges and contexts 2
• Growth of ‘health industry’ in eg BRIC
countries- pharmaceuticals, health
professional, manufacturing, 3y education
• Equitable Partnership not ‘paternalism’
• Equitable and sustainable capacity
development (Iy education needs 3y education)
• New models of teaching and learning
• Multidisciplinary problem-solving (water,
energy, vaccines, epidemic control)
‘As global health becomes an increasingly hot
field, there is a risk these well-intentioned
efforts are creating a 21st-century scramble for
Africa by US universities’
Source: Johanna Crane Lancet 23rd April 2011
commenting on Consortium of Universities for
Global Health (CUGH)
European Academic Global
Health Alliance (EAGHA)
European Academic Global Health
Alliance (EAGHA)
• 50 Members in 23 countries in Europe
“A forum for interested academic institutions
with involvement in Global Health to exchange
views and ideas, so as to develop a European
voice on Global Health issues and influence
relevant policies”
Where are the member institutions located?
Member of Alliance
Member of Alliance/ASPHER Member
EAGHA Country-level partners by
institution type
2.4
University/college
6.3
7.9
Government agency
(Ministry, national
institute)
hospital/medical centre
15.9
research centre
67.5
country office of
international partnership
Diversity in type of partnership
– Capacity building
• Through joint research projects, setting up PhD, MsC,
MPH programs; exchange programs, hospital
management programs
– Policy development
• Health System development, improving stewardship
and regulation at a national level
– Infrastructure strengthening
• health information system development
– Research partnerships on specific diseases, health
systems and target groups
EAGHA Global Partnerships
WHO Africa Region
4%
11%
WHO Region of SouthEast Asia
8%
50%
WHO Region of the
Americas
WHO Eastern
Mediterranean
8%
WHO Region of Western
Pacific
19%
WHO European Region
Objectives
• To advocate for evidence-based policies and
increased resources for global health in the
European Union and other relevant bodies;
to influence EU policy on research and
development for global health; to support the
implementation of the EU research agenda.
Objectives
• To develop guidelines for partnerships
between European institutions and their
counterparts in low- and middle-income
countries (including the issues of intellectual
property and data sharing); to learn about
effective partnerships from case studies and
to promote the implementation of such
guidelines.
Objectives
• To contribute to strengthening capacity in
partner institutions in low income countries
in response to their priorities, including
supporting areas such as research, teaching,
administration and infrastructure.
Objectives
• To foster exchange of ideas and, where
appropriate, collaboration between
European global health institutions on
research, teaching, and capacity building;
Objectives
• To encourage and to support the evaluation
of investments in global health to ensure
they have the desired effects.
Objectives
• To raise awareness of the challenges and
opportunities of global health in medical,
nursing, public health and allied health
professions, as well as the wider public.
Objectives
• To undertake horizon scanning in order to
identify new and emerging topic areas, and
share knowledge of potential impacts on
teaching and research programmes as well as
on policy and practice.
Objectives
• To encourage the formation of similar
collaborative networks in other world regions
and to forge links with those that already
exist; to ‘globalize ownership of global health’
and promote more coherence in global health
actions across regions through supporting the
development of a ‘World Federation’ of like
minded associations.
EU Global Health Policy
• Advocating for a sustainable European commitment
to global health
• Promoting synergy between the policy spheres of
public health, foreign policy, development and
research for health
• Promoting effective and fair financing of research
that benefits the health of all people