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and omits a balanced analysis of overall health challenges. excessive mediatisation
of disease problems is counterproductive to the overall health picture. It can incite
fear in the general population, who in turn demand a targeted, quick fix and not
necessarily a comprehensive response. also, glossy campaigns of disease eradication
compete against each other for attention and resources. overall, issues pertinent to
basic health lose out to issue-specific initiatives.
Global health initiatives mirror this increasing fixation on disease outbreak. they
typically centre on a single disease that affects the developing world and campaign
to raise resources to eliminate it. these attempts to eradicate infectious diseases
certainly have positive aspects. but they are targeted, 'vertical' programmes meant
must be asked if a response to infectious diseases in the developing world is to
fit into a larger comprehensive system. Do the vertical programmes complement
the broader oDa strategies for health problems? Do these concerns help or distract
development agencies from coping with other emergent health problems? If
unaccompanied by a more comprehensive and coherent approach, this increased
sensitivity to disease eradication would seem more akin to crisis management than
to strategic agenda setting for preparing for and preventing global health problems.
Conversely, however, the reconfiguration of ODA strategies as well as an embrace of
global health initiatives in response to a specific challenge could signify a maturation
process of how governance is performed. the way could be opened toward a hybrid
approach to addressing health needs that is intended to be proactive and complete.
the area under discussion in this chapter—whether the rise of global health
initiatives complements an equally responsive set of oDa strategies on global
health challenges—is a snapshot of two larger questions: what is the current status
of the global health governance system? and is it adequate to meet both traditional
and unanticipated challenges? there are many components to this system and
many angles from which to examine it. this chapter focusses on only one crucial
theme: the connection between the use of oDa programmes and the use of global
health initiatives as tools for addressing issues of health governance. this theme
encompasses many important facets of global health governance, including the
prioritisation of donor countries concerning the health challenges facing a large
majority of the world's population and the means they bring to bear to try to resolve
those challenges.
What Are Global Health Initiatives?
well-recognised global health initiatives have recently moved into the spotlight
as leaders for global health issues. these include the Stop tb Partnership (1998),
roll back Malaria (2000), the Global Fund to Fight aIDS, tuberculosis, and
Malaria (2001), the clinton Foundation HIv/aIDS Initiative (2001), the world
Health Organization's (WHO) '3 by 5' initiative (2003), the bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation Grand challenges in Global Health (2003), the rejuvenation of the carter
