Globalization and Health

Centre for International Health - UiB

   Course leaders: 

Invited course leader:

  • David Sanders, Professor, School of Public Health, University of Westren cape, South Africa

Short Course description


The module will examine the global policies and structures that affect health and health care and the international health policy agendas and how to study the effects of these policies and other interventions on health and health care. It will explore the complex relationships between health and health care and different socioeconomic, cultural, political and structural factors as well as individual characteristics. The political, economic and other causes of disparities in health and health care between and within countries will be discussed. Focus will be on factors that contribute to inequalities and inequities. Structures, policies, practice and roles of major global actors in health (World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the donor community (in particular the G8), the UN-system (including the WHO, UNICEF), non-governmental organizations and private agencies) will be discussed. The role of the state in responding to different international initiatives and the consequences on health and health care of politics and decisions of the major global actors will be assessed. In particular, the motivation for and consequences of the introduction of specific policies, e.g. Structural Adjustment Programmes, Sector Wide Approaches and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, will be examined. Further, new Global Health Initiatives like the International Health Partnership and the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals as well as influence on health of policies in other areas will be discussed.

For full course description and syllabus: click here (PDF)