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Examining the Global Health Arena: Strengths and Weaknesses of a Convention Approach to Global Health Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Just Balstad Haffeld ,
Harald Siem  and
John-Arne Røttingen
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Extract

Global health is a concept which in recent years has evoked a lot of interest from both academics, politicians, celebrities, and the media. The term “global health” implies a globally shared responsibility to provide health as a public good through an expansive number of initiatives. This emerging era of consciousness about our international interdependence, regardless of a problem’s geographic location or type of disease, may be a good moment for exploring the strengths and weaknesses of an international law approach to global health challenges: a global health convention.

The most prominent global health initiatives are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the 2005 Paris Declaration Process on Aid Effectiveness on the need for alignment and coordination (PDP), and the 2008 Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (AHLF). These instruments have yet to prove their value, and the funds annually disbursed, approximately $25 billion in 2009, could have better effect if the negotiated principles from the PDP and the AHLF were followed.

Type
Symposium
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 38 , Issue 3 , Fall 2010 , pp. 614 - 628
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2010

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