health systems research aims to understand the governance of health systems (i.e. how health systems function and perform and how their actors interact with each other). this can be achieved by applying innovative methodologies and concepts that are going to capture the complexity and dynamics of health systems when they are affected by shocks. the capacity of health systems to adapt to shocks ...

rlabonté et al entitle their paper in this issue of the international journal of health policy and management “the trans-pacific partnership: is it everything we feared for health?” tantalisingly, they do not directly answer the question they pose, and in this commentary, we suggest that it is the wrong question; we should not ‘fear’ the trans-pacific partnership (tpp) at all, rather we should ...

The main institutions responsible for governing international trade and health-the World Trade Organization (WTO), which replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1995, and WHO-were established after World War 2. For many decades the two institutions operated in isolation, with little cooperation between them. The growth and expansion of world trade over the past half centur...

Also available in a PDF version for printing convenience. Sequel to Towards Polyhedral Global Governance: complexifying oversimplistic strategic metaphors (2008). Associated with: Polyhedral Empowerment of Networks through Symmetry: psycho-social implications for organization and global governance (2008) and Configuring Global Governance Groups: experimental visualization of possible integrativ...

We are facing a rapid globalization in the twenty-first century. This sharpens our view on this one planet (1) traveling through space, the Spaceship Earth. It is largely in our hands as a human race whether this journey is a safe one. However, we can summarize the global threats endangering us – the passengers – as shown in Figure 1. All five threats affect our health but cannot be controlled ...

Background: A world divided by health inequalities poses ethical challenges for global health. International and national responses to health disparities must be rooted in ethical values about health and its distribution; this is because ethical claims have the power to motivate, delineate principles, duties and responsibilities, and hold global and national actors morally responsible for achie...

BACKGROUND The advent of global health initiatives (GHIs) has changed the landscape and architecture of health financing in low and middle income countries, particularly in Africa. Over the last decade, the African Region has realised improvements in health outcomes as a result of interventions implemented by both governments and development partners. However, alignment and harmonisation of par...

The role of multilateral donor agencies in global health is a new area of research, with limited research on how these agencies differ in terms of their governance arrangements, especially in relation to transparency, inclusiveness, accountability, and responsiveness to civil society. We argue that historical analysis of the origins of these agencies and their coalition formation processes can ...

public health management is a pillar of public health practice. only through effective management can research, theory, and scientific innovation be translated into successful public health action. with this in mind, the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) has developed an innovative program called improving public health management for action (impact) which aims to address th...