Global Politics of Public Health (U03849)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : HEA-3-GPPP

The course aims to examine how health policy is increasingly being shaped beyond the level of the nation state, focusing on the changing roles of international organisations, the commercial sector and civil society. This course builds on the Semester 1 course in Globalisation and public health. The course examines contemporary challenges confronting the World Health Organisation, discussing the extent to which recent innovations like the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the revised International Health Regulations embody a new mode of global health governance. Health policy is increasingly influenced by organisations that have been created to promote trade, and the significance of the European Union is considered alongside the involvement of the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation. A distinctive feature of recent changes has been the increased involvement of non-state actors in the development of health policy, and the course addresses the expanded roles of the commercial sector and civil society. The course also examines the implications for the recent profusion of global health partnerships such as the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

International Public Health Policy, (School of Health in Social Science, Schedule D)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course students will be able to:
- Understand how globalisation is transforming the capacity of the modern state to shape health policy, with international and non-state actors assuming increasingly significant roles.
- Understand challenges confronting the World Health Organisation and assess recent attempts at institutional and policy reform.
- Understand the significance for public health of major international organisations such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation.
- Consider the expanded role of commercial actors in health governance, the challenge of regulating trans-national corporations, and the increasing significance of global partnerships between public and private sectors (e.g. The Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation).
- Consider the role of civil society organisations in global health politics.
- Effectively communicate the course's core concepts through written and oral presentations.