Seminar Series 2: Lecture 4: Dr Ilona Kickbusch

The Global Health Challenge: Why We Need Good Governance for Health

Experience suggests that the interaction between globalisation and health is a two way process, with each having a greater impact on the other than previously realised. The development of SARS and avian flu provide examples of this, with their health impacts crossing national boundaries. In addition, disease outbreaks and changes in lifestyle have significant economic impacts, which are often borne at the local level. For example, the SARS outbreak in Toronto cost 12,000 jobs and over $1 billion in 2003 alone.

Increasing globalisation is also having an adverse effect on health inequalities within and between countries, as the global economy restructures. Neither risks nor costs are equally shared between nations. On the other hand health is an important determinant of growth, productivity, wealth and quality of life. Questions need to be answered about the economic and social impacts of, and national/local preparedness and responses to, emerging global health challenges. A new perspective and action is needed to address these challenges, and it should be based upon a deeper understanding of the interdependence between the global and the local where threats and opportunities are not always clear. Countries have a joint interest in creating a healthier world.