PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Global health is increasingly present on the international policy agenda and in transnational fora such as the G7 and G20 summits. This trend is as overdue as it is desirable, but the scope and content of the discussion remain rather limited. For safeguarding and improving people's health all over the world, global public health requires coordinated and coherent action. Epidemic preparedness is certainly necessary but refers only to a small segment of global health and will remain insufficient as long as the social and health-system-related causes persist. One Health is an important strategy for fighting antimicrobial resistance but without overcoming crucial economic determinants, it will be impossible to solve the problem. Health systems strengthening, the third major field of global health, requires a sound mix of adequate financing, infrastructure, human resources and societal factors for expanding access to health for all. All proposed and desired improvements in global health need complex crosscutting approaches for being effective and sustainable; however, the steps taken by political decision-makers are rather small and do not address essential causes. Global public health means more than tinkering with the symptoms.