What is Global Health?
Global health is about the health of people worldwide and the social, environmental and political conditions that affect health.
In global health, the focus is not one disease or region, but the idea that health is a shared responsibility is. It is about cooperation across borders, between countries, disciplines and organisations.
Themes such as health equity, planetary health, digital innovation, resilience in crisis situations and access to care play a big part in this.
Global health asks questions such as:
- Why do some groups get sicker than others?
- How is climate change affecting our health?
- What can countries learn from each other to make care more equitable, sustainable and resilient?
A field with a history
The roots of global health lie in the 19th century, in the era of colonial medicine and tropical health care. Back then, “tropical medicine” focused mainly on the protection of European administrators and traders in the colonies, and much less on the health of local populations.¹
In the second half of the 20th century, the field emerged international healthcare: health projects in low-income countries, often from Western aid organisations. Although this period brought significant medical advances, the ratio remained uneven.
From the 2000s, the perspective shifted to what we now call global health: a equivalent pitch which places collaboration, reciprocity and local control at its heart.²
Today, global health is keenly aware of that colonial past. Many universities, knowledge institutes and health organisations - including in the Netherlands - are actively working on decolonial and inclusive approaches. This is not just about who does research, but also whose knowledge is recognised and what power relations are still maintained.
Themes shaping global health
The field of global health links healthcare to issues such as environment, policy, technology, migration and social justice.
Key perspectives are:
- Health equity and social determinants: poverty, housing, education and gender affect people's health as much as medical care.
- Planetary health and sustainability: human health is directly linked to the health of the planet. Climate change, air pollution and biodiversity loss are causing millions of additional years of disease worldwide.³
- Health systems and policy: Fair access to care requires strong, resilient care systems - in the Netherlands and globally.
- Digital health and innovation: e-health, data and AI are playing an increasing role in making healthcare accessible.
- Resilience in crisis situations: Wars, natural disasters and pandemics call for international cooperation and leadership.
These themes are inextricably linked by the lenses used by KCGH, NSGH and OIGT: health equality, resilience, accessibility, inclusion and knowledge of the future. Looking at complex social issues from these lenses gives us a better and broader understanding of the context. Together, they form the core of global health thinking.
Why global health is important for the Netherlands
Global health is not something that happens only “elsewhere”. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that international cooperation is essential for our own health. Pandemic preparedness, fair access to vaccines and knowledge sharing are all part of the same chain.
Large health disparities also exist within the Netherlands: in some Utrecht neighbourhoods, people live on average seven years shorter and 15 years less healthy than in others.⁴ Such differences show that health equity is not only a global but also a national issue.
The same social and structural determinants that play a role worldwide - income, education, housing, living environment - also determine who ages healthily in the Netherlands.
A global health lens helps healthcare professionals and policymakers understand and address these inequalities. This can be done by learning from solutions elsewhere: how do communities become resilient under pressure, how do you organise care with limited resources, and how do you combine prevention and joint alignment?
The Dutch Global Health strategy of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS)⁵ underlines this importance. The strategy identifies three pillars:
Global health is thus not “aid” from here to there, but a reciprocal network in which knowledge, policy and practice reinforce each other - across borders and within our own society.
KCGH, NSGH and OIGT contribute to the global health strategy through membership of the Dutch Global Health Hub and collaboration with partners.
Doctors of International Health (AIGs): the bridge between local and global
A concrete example of global health in practice are the Doctors International Healthcare(AIGs).
These doctors are trained by the Training Institute for International Health and Tropical Medicine (OIGT) and are experts in care in a variety of settings: from district hospitals in Malawi to GGDs in the Netherlands.
AIGs combine clinical expertise with a broad social perspective. In low-income countries, they contribute to system strengthening, education and sustainable capacity building. In the Netherlands, they work with migrants and refugees, in general practices, hospitals and public health organisations. Their experience in intercultural communication, prevention and care coordination makes them liaison officers between local and global healthcare practice.
AIGs show that global health is not a separate field, but a way of thinking and working together: with an eye on context, equity and mutual learning.
Sources
- Packard, R. (2016). A History of Global Health: Interventions into the Lives of Other Peoples. Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Koplan, J.P. et al. (2009). “Towards a common definition of global health.” The Lancet.
- Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME, 2024). Global Burden of Disease Study: Burden of 375 Diseases and Injuries and 88 Risk Factors.
- Municipality of Utrecht (2023). Differences in healthy life years between neighbourhoods.
- Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (2023). Dutch Global Health strategy: Health worldwide, better prepared at home.
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