by Andrzej Rys, Director of Health systems and products, DG Sante
The 2010 Commission Communication on Global Health stated that global health is about worldwide improvement of health, reduction of disparities, and protection against global health threats; it considered the concept through various lenses including development, trade, security, human rights and governance. What role do EU policies and instruments fit into this paradigm?
The EU is a committed supporter of global health governance and multilateralism and it looks to the WHO for global health leadership. The Commission and the WHO cooperate on a wide range of issues: the EU is in fact the third largest funder of the WHO and plays a key role in its governing bodies.
The EU also contributes to global governance for health through other international policies having effects on health, for example, those concerning trade, research and development. Within the European Commission, DG Health and Food Safety has dialogues with other Commission Services on health issues that have global impact or global dimensions.
Ongoing negotiations of international trade agreements are followed closely by the global health community, which is concerned about the possible negative impact of converging standards and the ability of governments to regulate markets for the benefit of public health. Preventing negative consequences requires constantly looking at the wider picture and connecting the dots, even when it is not obvious at first that there are connections, as is sometimes the case when looking at specific trade issues and public health.
The EU also works towards governance for global health through the global health strategies developed by the Commission and many EU Member States to achieve coherence between internal and external policies.
Working with the WHO and other international organisations, working with other Commission Services, working with Member States, NGOs, policy makers, industry and others – safeguarding and improving global health takes a global approach. Just like no man is an island, no country or region or even continent is immune to certain health threats like Ebola, Antimicrobial Resistance and HIV/AIDS. Combatting these and other threats requires everyone's cooperation and goodwill.
