The expanding importance of health as a global issue has focused attention on the value of applying the concept of Global Public Goods from economics to international health. The Global Public Goods for health concept considers 'goods' i.e. services, technologies and information, such as knowledge of an infectious disease outbreak or control of climate change, that are important for promoting the health of all populations and which are of benefit globally. Since these are 'public goods' there is often a lack of incentive to provide or feel responsible for them. The central challenge of the Global Public Goods for health concept is to ensure collective action at international level.

The main focus of this book is whether and how best Global Public Goods for health can be used to advance the health of poor populations. Written by experts from both the health, legal and economics worlds, Global Public Goods for Health develops the concept in relation to international health and health policy. Numerous case studies are used to illustrate the usefulness of the concept and consider the aspects of health that may be classed as Global Public Goods and how this helps to ensure their provision.

The world's problems are indeed world problems: social and environmental crises, global trade and politics, and major epidemics are making public health a pressing global concern. From this constantly changing scenario, global health diplomacy has evolved, at the intersection of public health, international relations, law, economics, and management-a new discipline with transformative potential. Global Health Diplomacy situates this concept firmly within the human rights dialogue and provides a solid framework for understanding global health issues and their negotiation. This up-to-the-minute guide sets out defining principles and the current agenda of the field, and examines key relationships such as between trade and health diplomacy, and between global health and environmental issues. The processes of global governance are detailed as the UN, WHO, and other multinational actors work to address health inequalities among the world's peoples. And to ensure maximum usefulness, the text includes plentiful examples, discussion questions, reading lists, and a glossary. Featured topics include: The legal basis of global health agreements and negotiations. Global public goods as a foundation for global health diplomacy. Global health: a human security perspective. Health issues and foreign policy at the UN. National strategies for global health. South-south cooperation and other new models of development. A volume of immediate utility with a potent vision for the future, Global Health Diplomacy is an essential text for public health experts and diplomats as well as schools of public health and international affairs.

The world's problems are indeed world problems: social and environmental crises, global trade and politics, and major epidemics are making public health a pressing global concern. From this constantly changing scenario, global health diplomacy has evolved, at the intersection of public health, international relations, law, economics, and management-a new discipline with transformative potential. Global Health Diplomacy situates this concept firmly within the human rights dialogue and provides a solid framework for understanding global health issues and their negotiation. This up-to-the-minute guide sets out defining principles and the current agenda of the field, and examines key relationships such as between trade and health diplomacy, and between global health and environmental issues. The processes of global governance are detailed as the UN, WHO, and other multinational actors work to address health inequalities among the world's peoples. And to ensure maximum usefulness, the text includes plentiful examples, discussion questions, reading lists, and a glossary. Featured topics include: The legal basis of global health agreements and negotiations. Global public goods as a foundation for global health diplomacy. Global health: a human security perspective. Health issues and foreign policy at the UN. National strategies for global health. South-south cooperation and other new models of development. A volume of immediate utility with a potent vision for the future, Global Health Diplomacy is an essential text for public health experts and diplomats as well as schools of public health and international affairs.

In a new era of global health diplomacy, the most important tool for decision-making is negotiation. Globalization is binding countries, issues and people together as never before. In the domain of public health, traditional international concerns like the spread of infectious diseases have been joined by new concerns and challenges in managing the health impacts of trade and intellectual property rights, and by new opportunities to create effective global public health agreements and programs. To address the major health crises of today and to prevent or mitigate them in the future, countries must seek collective agreement and action within and across their borders. However, the world of international negotiation is not the world in which health decision-makers reside or are most comfortable. The goal of this guide is to provide health policy-makers with practical information and negotiation tools, to help them create better international health agreements and programs. "This is the best book I know to help health professionals develop the negotiation skills necessary to meet the challenges of global health diplomacy. It is filled with wise advice and invaluable tools for success." Professor Jeswald W. Salacuse, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

There is a growing awareness of cross-border issues in health that require new policy responses and financing mechanisms. This expanding importance of health as an international issue, and the growth in attention given to health by non-health sector bodies, has brought to prominence the concept of Global Public Goods (GPGs) as applied to health: 'goods' that are in the interest of the world as a whole, but where 'public good' attributes (non excludability and non rivalry in consumption) mean that there is a lack of incentive to produce these goods.
The book addresses the growing globalism of health from the unique perspective of the economic concept of public goods. This concept identifies where a 'good' or service, such as knowledge of an infectious disease outbreak which would be of benefit globally, will not be produced if left to 'the market' because of a lack of incentive due principally to not being able to exlude people from using the good. in this case the producer, of the information on disease outbreak for example, cannot charge a price and therefore cannot recoup production expenses. Nationally, the production of these goods is usually assured by government intervention, but at the global level there is no 'global government' to undertake this role. The Global Public Good concept therefore extends the economic analysis of public goods to this international level. In this book we consider specifically the aspects of health that may be classed as Global Public Goods and considers how the concept helps to ensure their provision.