header background

Governance

There is a new world of challenges for global health governance, with shifting donor priorities, evolving health needs in many low- and middle-income nations, and a development assistance budget that has not increased much since 2010. This section offers an inside look at the ways in which global health governance is adapting to these changes, with a focus on the institutions, rules, and processes that govern the health of people across the world.

Governance

2 Months

It's estimated omicron will infect as many people in the next 2 months as SARS-CoV-2 did in the past 2 years

A Sensible Approach to Omicron A Sensible Approach to Omicron

1.3%

Annual growth in global health aid, 2011-2018

Annual growth in global health aid, 2011-2018 Annual growth in global health aid, 2011-2018

1851

First International Sanitary Conference convenes

First International Sanitary Conference convenes First International Sanitary Conference convenes

40

Years since WHO certified smallpox eradication

Years since WHO certified smallpox eradication Years since WHO certified smallpox eradication

14.6 M

Million people on PEPFAR-funded HIV/AIDS treatment

Million people on PEPFAR-funded HIV/AIDS treatment Million people on PEPFAR-funded HIV/AIDS treatment

1948

World Health Organization founded

World Health Organization founded World Health Organization founded

2%

Share of health aid for noncommunicable diseases

Share of health aid for noncommunicable diseases Share of health aid for noncommunicable diseases

Featured

Governance
Dancers with the Berlin State Ballet (Staatsballett Berlin) wear face masks during a dress rehearsal of Don Quixote at Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Germany, on December 1, 2021.

A Sensible Approach to Omicron
by Ali H. Mokdad, Katherine Leach-Kemon - December 23, 2021

New estimates suggest omicron is just 3 percent as deadly as delta

Governance
A church-goer crosses himself during Sunday mass at a structure next to the under renovation Saint Therese Catholic Church after unrest triggered by COVID-19 curbs, which have already rocked the nearby island of Guadeloupe, in Fort-de-France, Martinique November 28, 2021

The World Health Assembly Special Session and the Pandemic Treaty Controversy

by Obijiofor Aginam

Low- and middle-income countries face challenges in upcoming negotiations on pandemic governance

Governance
People wait in line to receive the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, donated to Kenya by the UK government, in Nairobi, Kenya, August 8, 2021.

Billions Committed, Millions Delivered

by Samantha Kiernan, Serena Tohme, Gayeong Song

The mixed record of vaccine donations and diplomacy

As the sun sets, a boy prepares to jump off a rock into the waters of the Osman Sagar Lake near the southern Indian city of Hyderabad May 29, 2011.
Governance

Antibiotic Resistance is a Smoldering Crisis

by Kevin Ikuta, Lucien Swetschinski, Mohsen Naghavi, Chieh Han, Katherine Leach-Kemon

More than 1.2 million people across the globe died of antibiotic resistant superbugs in 2019

Service members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces gather near BM-21 "Grad" multiple rocket launchers during tactical military exercises at a shooting range in Kherson, Ukraine, on January 19, 2022
Governance

The Ukraine Crisis, COVID-19, and Global Health

by David P. Fidler

The Russian threat to Ukraine has nothing to do with the pandemic, but the situation has implications for global health

The Kansas City Chiefs come out of the tunnel for the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City, Missouri, on December 26, 2021.
Governance

Sports Teams Took Their Shots, But Fans Lag Behind

by Annie Chan

What NFL, WNBA, and other professional athletes and teams around the globe can teach us about COVID-19 vaccination

An Indigenous woman waits to receive the Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at Sao Jose Village in the Indigenous land Rio Urubu from the ethnicity Mura in the Urubu river banks in Itacoatiara, Amazonas state, Brazil, February 13, 2021. Photo by REUTERS/Bruno Kelly
Governance

Latin America, COVID-19, and the Fate of a Post-Pandemic Civilization

by Carlos Javier Regazzoni

Latin American countries need U.S. power to restore global health values

A person holds a flare as port workers gather outside the entrance of the major port of Trieste to protest against the implementation of the COVID-19 health pass, the Green Pass, in the workplace, in Trieste, Italy, October 15, 2021.
Governance

Questioning NATO for Health

by Carolina I. Andrada, Paul E. Cormarie

A new model of global health security governance should prioritize unity and solidarity among nations

People wearing protective face masks visit the snow-covered Imperial Palace, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan January 6, 2022. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Governance

Omicron Right Now

Public health expert Ali H. Mokdad answers our omicron questions this week 

A health official stands next to a container holding a shipment of more than 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, donated by the the British government, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Governance

The Challenge of Pandemic Governance for Low- and Middle-Income Countries after COVID-19

by Md. Rizwanul Islam

LMICs should find better ways to cooperate against global health threats

tourists on a beach
Governance

Mexico's Short-Sighted COVID-19 Foreign Policy

by Thalia Porteny, Adolfo Martinez Valle, Felicia Marie Knaul, Hector Arreola, Michael Touchton, Renzo J.C. Calderon Anyosa

Valuing tourism over human life

A woman reads a book at the Shinjuku branch of Book and Bed, an accommodation combined with book cafe where guests can sleep in hidden bunks built into a large bookshelf, during a photo opportunity in Tokyo, Japan September 14, 2018.
Governance

Best Books of 2021

by Caroline Kantis

Our top fifteen favorite reads of the year

Noella Mulopo, a laboratory technician, writes on a GeneXpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing cartridge in the National Institute for Biomedical Research laboratory (INRB) in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo February 6, 2021.
Governance

R&D—More Than Sharing Vaccines

by Carel IJsselmuiden, Cathy Garner, Francine Ntoumi, Jaime Montoya, Gerald T. Keusch

A complete change is needed in the approach to and funding of global preparedness

Girls stand in a truck during a campaign to raise awareness about illegal and false drugs in Abobo, a suburb of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on October 11, 2018.
Governance

What the African Medicines Agency Needs Most to Succeed

by Michelle D. Gavin

The formation of the AMA is a milestone for drug safety and trust in Africa

Jabuben Bharwad, 30, receives a dose of COVISHIELD vaccine against COVID-19, that's manufactured by Serum Institute of India, while working in a field during a door-to-door vaccination drive at Mahijada village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, December 15, 2021
Governance

Best of 2021

by TGH Editorial Team

We published 365 stories on global health this year, here are our top picks