Global Health and Diplomacy

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Summary and Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

Over the past few years, significant changes have been observed in the diplomacy field. The process of globalization, which has come in full swing by the beginning of the 21^st century, has revealed that some health concerns have transcended political and economic issues, turning into global problems.

As a result, these health issues affect the course of the global politics, including the tendencies in foreign relationships in general and diplomacy in particular.

By introducing a set of specific rules and regulations for international trade, the proponents of global health create the environment, in which sustainability can be fostered and, therefore, the principles of shared global responsibility can be promoted (U.S. Department of State, 2014, para. 1).

Discussion

Where Health and Economy Issues Cross

At the first glance, there seems to be no way that the very idea of global health could be somehow related to economy and finance – the gap between the concerns for public health and the issues regarding trade and diplomatic negotiations seems far too big.

A closer look at the concept of global health will reveal that it concerns not only the field of healthcare, but also a variety of issues that are connected closely to the process of international negotiations and the art of diplomacy. For instance, the principle of sustainability, which has recently been considered the top priority of the global political and economic relationships, in fact, hinges on the key principles of global health.

Herein the necessity to incorporate the key postulates of global health and the major diplomatic strategies lies.

According to the official definition, global health diplomacy as a phenomenon can be interpreted as the concept that “brings together the disciplines of public health, international affairs, management, law and economics and focuses on negotiations that shape and manage the global policy environment for health” (World Health Organization, 2014, para. 1); therefore, the foundations of global health may enhance the current economic processes, encouraging global trade on a more advanced level, which will promote safety as the basis for economic relationships.

The necessity to introduce the concept of global health into the international relationships in general and the diplomatic processes that are carried out within the specified domain in particular is predetermined by the specifics of the current relationships between the states.

The fact that the globalization process makes the states involved in international trade dependent on each other has led to the need for major countries to acknowledge the health concerns of the third world states, and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is a graphic example of that (World Trade Organization, 2014a, para. 1).

It would be wrong to assume that the phenomenon of global health diplomacy has not been used up to date in the realm of international relationships – quite on the contrary, health concerns have been on the world agenda for quite a few times.

However, it has not up until recently that some of the healthcare issues steered the very process of communication between the states and defined the process of negotiation. The landscape of global health diplomacy is changing, and the recent health concerns are the key factors that define the ways for its further development.

Major Concerns Resolution

With the new alterations in the course of the U.S. politics, more opportunities for addressing global health concerns have emerged. According to Bliss, in the second term of Obama’s administration, ample opportunities for healthcare services have appeared; particularly, the means to resolve the health related issues in middle income countries, such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Korea, etc., have been provided.

Seeing that the specified stats are essential links in the trading process and a part and parcel of the global market, it is crucial to address the health issues, which the specified countries are facing at present. Thus, maximum security for the parties involved will be provided:

“As the Obama administration moves into a second term, there are numerous opportunities for U.S. diplomats to coordinate on global health goals with middle income countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and South Korea” (Bliss, 2012, para. 1).

Therefore, the integration of health concerns into the global economy and the political relationships between the states advances the latter two, promoting international cooperation and creating the premises for successful integration of several states’ efforts within the environment of global trade.

An analysis of the current commitments, which the WTO has at present, will show that the health concerns, which are supposed to be the organization’s top priority, remain unaddressed (World Trade Organization, 2014).

Negotiation Process

By incorporating the concept of global health into the set of principles for international negotiations, governments will be able to both agree on specific economic issues and advance their healthcare services.

In the light of the recent issues regarding the epidemics of a new and ferocious disease commonly known as ebola (ebola virus disease, i.e., EVD), the precautions taken to address the current health concerns seem quite legitimate.

It is essential that the concept of global health, once included into the diplomatic relationships, will help build the strategy of global altruism (Michaud & Kates, 2013, p. 24) by encouraging the use of “soft power” and practice the “enlightened self-interest” (Michaud & Kates, 2013, p. 24) among the world leaders.

Healthcare Services Improvement

Apart from the economic relationships between the states, the incorporation of global health issues into the set of principles that international diplomatic relationships are guided by offers ample opportunities for improving the existing healthcare services by sharing experience in addressing major issues.

Seeing that there is “an inherent tension between the use of foreign policy and diplomacy for achieving better global health outcomes” (U.S. Global Health Policy, 2012, p. 2), it is crucial that points of contact should be located between the representatives of different states and that their efforts could be joined for designing new and more efficient methods of major issues treatment.

Summary and Conclusion

Because of the effect, which current health concerns have on the world economy and finances, as well as the scale, which health issues have taken, the necessity to incorporate the concept of global health into the philosophy of international diplomacy has emerged.

The link between the global economy and the current health concerns is obvious; therefore, it is imperative that economic choices should be made with regard to the effects that they have on the state of people’s health all over the world.

The incorporation of the principles of global health into diplomacy allows for making the process of negotiations more efficient and objective; without the incorporation of the global health principles into the negotiation process, the development of a sustainable approach would be impossible.

Allowing for a major improvement in the healthcare systems of the states that are facing healthcare crisis at present, the concept of global health diplomacy must be supported as the manifestation of sustainability principles in the realm of the international relationships.

Reference List

Bliss, K. (2012). The changing landscape of global health diplomacy. CSIS. Web.

Michaud, J. & Kates, J. (2013). Global health diplomacy: advancing foreign policy and global health interests. Global Health: Science and Practice, 1(1), 24–28. Web.

U.S. Department of State. (2014). Office of Global Health Diplomacy. U.S. Department of State. Web.

U.S. Global Health Policy. (2012). Raising the profile of diplomacy in the U.S. Global Health response: A backgrounder on global health diplomacy. Kaiser Family Foundation. Web.

World Health Organization. (2014). Global health diplomacy. WHO. Web.

World Trade Organization. (2014). Health and social services. WTO. Web.

World Trade Organization. (2014a). Services trade. WTO. Web.

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