Your Call Could not be Completed as Dialled: Why Truth Does not Speak to Power In Global Health; Comment on “Knowledge, Moral Claims and the Exercise of Power in Global Health”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Department of International Health, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

Abstract

This article contends that legitimacy in the exercise of power comes from the consent of those subject to it. In global health, this implies that the participation of poor country citizens is required for the legitimacy of major actors and institutions. But a review of institutions and processes suggests that this participation is limited or absent. Particularly because of the complex political economy of non-communicable diseases, this participation is essential to the future advancement of global health and the legitimacy of its institutions. More analysis of power and legitimacy provides one entry point for fostering progress.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Shiffman J. Knowledge, Moral Claims and the Exercise of Power in Global Health. Int J Health Policy Management 2014; 3: 297–9. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2014.120  
  2. Report from Bellagio: Advancing Political Economy of Global Health to Understand and Influence the Drivers of Universal Health Coverage. Health Systems & Reform 2015; 1: 20–1. doi: 10.4161/23288604.2014.991221
  3. Hobbes T. Leviathan. London: Andrew Crooke; 1651.
  4. Locke J. Two Treatises of Government. London: Awnsham Churchill; 1690.
  5. Rousseau JJ. Du Contract Social. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey; 1762.
  6. Bump J. The Long Road to Universal Health Coverage: Early decisions in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Health Systems & Reform 2015; 1: 28-38. doi: 10.4161/23288604.2014.991211  
  7. Bump JB. The Long Road to Universal Health Coverage: A century of lessons for development strategy. Seattle, WA: PATH; 2010. Available from: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/uploads/files/23e4426f-cc44-4d98-ae81-ffa71c38e073-jesse.pdf
  8. Farley J. To Cast Out Disease: A history of the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation (1913–1951). New York: Oxford; 2004.
  9. Farley J. Brock Chisholm, the World Health Organization, and the Cold War. Vancouver: UBC Press; 2008.
  10. Mamudu HM, Hammond R, Glantz S. Tobacco industry attempts to counter the World Bank report curbing the epidemic and obstruct the WHO framework convention on tobacco control. Soc Sci  Med 2008; 67: 1690-9. 
  11. Mamudu HM, Hammond R, Glantz SA. Project Cerberus: Tobacco Industry Strategy to Create an Alternative to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Am J Public Health 2008; 98: 1630-42.  doi: 10.2105/ajph.2007.129478
  12. World Health Organization (WHO). Tobacco industry strategies to undermine tobacco control activities at the World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO; 2000.
  13. Assunta M, Chapman S. Health treaty dilution: a case study of Japan's influence on the language of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. J Epidemiol Community Health 2006; 60: 751-6.  doi: 10.1136/jech.2005.043794
  14. Chaloupka FJ, Laixuthai A. U.S. Trade Policy and Cigarette Smoking in Asia. NBER Working Paper No. 5543; 1996.
  15. Daniels N. Accountability for reasonableness: Establishing a fair process for priority setting is easier than agreeing on principles. British Medical Journal 2000; 321: 1300-1. 

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 16 February 2015
  • Revise Date: 09 March 2015
  • Accept Date: 10 March 2015
  • First Publish Date: 01 June 2015

Share

How to cite

Statistics