Global Health in the Anthropocene: Moving Beyond Resilience and Capitalism; Comment on “Health Promotion in an Age of Normative Equity and Rampant Inequality”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Department of Public Health, Unit of Health Policy, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium

Abstract

There has been much reflection on the need for a new understanding of global health and the urgency of a paradigm shift to address global health issues. A crucial question is whether this is still possible in current modes of global governance based on capitalist values. Four reflections are provided. (1) Ecological–centered values must become central in any future global health framework. (2) The objectives of ‘sustainability’ and ‘economic growth’ present a profound contradiction. (3) The resilience discourse maintains a gridlock in the functioning of the global health system. (4) The legitimacy of multi-stakeholder governance arrangements in global health requires urgent attention. A dual track approach is suggested. It must be aimed to transform capitalism into something better for global health while in parallel there is an urgent need to imagine a future and pathways to a different world order rooted in the principles of social justice, protecting the commons and a central role for the preservation of ecology.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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  • Receive Date: 21 October 2016
  • Revise Date: 06 December 2016
  • Accept Date: 07 December 2016
  • First Publish Date: 01 August 2017