‘Health’ as a multisectoral global concern

(MainsGS2:Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.)

Context:

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other health crises, the focus on public health in foreign policy around the world appears to have shifted from ‘low politics’ (humanitarian endeavour) to ‘high politics’ (national and international security concerns).

Global concern:

This shift is accompanied by the emerging need to understand the social, economic, commercial, security, and political determinants of health.
These developments have necessitated that ‘health’ be considered as a multisectoral global concern and not just limited to individual countries.
Indeed, the Oslo Ministerial Declaration—signed by Brazil, France, Indonesia, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, and Thailand in March 2007—had urged the need to broaden the scope of foreign policy to include health.
It stated: “Health is deeply interconnected with the environment, trade, economic growth, social development, national security, and human rights and dignity.
In a globalised and interdependent world, the state of global health has a profound impact on all nations – developed and developing. Ensuring public health on a global scale is of benefit to all countries.”

Global shared commitment:

As COVID-19 has shown, global health problems are no longer restricted to the health sector alone.
Consequently, a global shared commitment to the governance, accountability, transparency, endurance, and sustainability of the health system in a VUC (An acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) environment is needed to prevent, respond, and prepare for future adverse situations.
The Group of Twenty (G20) is one such entity that could enable coordinated collective action against global health challenges.

An effective platform:

The G20 is a powerful international platform that discusses and deliberates on pressing issues, and shapes global economic and developmental priorities.
The G20 members account for over 80 percent of the world’s GDP, 75 percent of global trade, and 60 percent of the planet’s population.
It has also proved to be an effective crisis management group in its handling of the 2008 global financial crisis through multilateral cooperation and coordination.
Over the years, the grouping’s scope has expanded to include the diverse factors that impact the global economy, including health and climate change.

Leading cause of death:

The G20's focus on health has developed gradually over the years amid greater awareness of the widespread impacts of global health challenges.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death in high-income countries, while communicable diseases are the main cause in lower-income countries.
This is an important insight given that the G20 includes both high- and low-income countries.
A 2019 study showed a high proportional mortality from NCDs among the grouping’s member countries, at 70 percent, mainly in the developed member-countries.
However, collective action is necessary to prevent the global spread of both communicable and NCDs in the future.

Initiatives of G20:

Over the years, the G20 has taken several vital steps towards addressing global health challenges, with the group adopting 75 health commitments between 2011 and 2019.
Even between 2008 and 2012, when the G20’s priority was global financial stability, the grouping still focused on ensuring that peoples’ welfare was not compromised by austerity measures.
The group’s health-related agendas involved strengthening social safety nets such as public healthcare and pension plans which were included indirectly through discussions on food security, nutrition, and environmental sustainability.
During covid pandemic, the group was quick to respond to the crisis with a ‘G20 Action Plan’ that prioritized cooperation among the different stakeholders in the health, economic, and financial sectors
The group also prioritised digital health, establishing the G20 Digital Health Taskforce during the Saudi Arabia presidency in 2020 to leverage digital health interventions and promote supportive policies.
In 2021, the G20 also established a Joint Finance and Health Taskforce to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

Conclusion:

Although the G20 has made promising efforts to address global health challenges, geopolitical conflicts involving the member countries, either directly or indirectly, could scuttle any progress on tackling these issues.