Global Health Definition

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Introduction The term ‘global health’ is being used increasingly the last decades. The term is used in academia, international organizations, countries and regions (Garay, Harris & Walsh 2013). However, there is still no common definition of global health around the world. There still is uncertainty about the real meaning of global health, while a common definition is very important for effective and clear communication between all the parties involved in global health (Marusic, 2013). First, a couple of definitions of global health from different readings will be given to get a good overview of what the term ‘global health’ means according to different authors. Then, the mean characteristics that play a role in defining global health will…show more content…
The term international health was used for health work abroad, with a focus on developing countries and with a content of infectious and tropical diseases, malnutrition, water and sanitation, and maternal and child health (Koplan et al. 2009). Nowadays, international health is defined by the GHEC as “subspecialty that relates more to health practices, health policies and systems, and stresses more the differences between countries than their commonalities” (Koplan et al. 2009). Although there are some areas of international- and global health that overlap, like the preventive focus, the concentration on the poorer populations, and the participation of stakeholders. But the biggest differences are in the geographical reach, where international health focusses on health issues of other countries than their own, in contrast to global health who focusses on both (Koplan et al.…show more content…
So why did international health make place for global health? This is because of the increased speed of communication and travel around the world, as well as the economic interdependency between all nations. This new level of globalization is a force in shaping health around the world (Koplan et al. 2009). So, the speed of the global travel, communication and increased tourism present an urgent challenge to the control of the decreased age-specific mortality rates (especially for infectious diseases) around the world (Koplan et al. 2009; Banta 2001). This all contributed to the rise of global

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