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Decolonizing Global Health

MED
54Q
Instructors
Shumba, T. (PI)
Section Number
1
In this seminar, we will look at the origins of global health and how changes in discourse over the last century have shaped the current landscape. We will explore possible future directions for global health exchanges grounded in more equity-based paradigms.This course will introduce students to the various definitions of global health from colonial times, through international health, tropical medicine and now global health. We will consider what moral imperative leads to global health work, and how conventional thought about the relationships between providers, patients and systems in the global North and South is shifting.Global health has transitioned through various stages. In the 1800s, missionary doctors provided medical care while also spreading religion and colonial interests. During the twentieth century, great strides were made in sanitation and infectious disease treatment as part of systems and government based ¿international health¿ and ¿tropical medicine.¿ Paradoxically, in the last two decades, as the world becomes more intertwined, ¿global health¿ has generally involved shorter term encounters, usually with specialists at the vanguard.With the epidemiological transition and increasing communicable disease prevalence in developing countries, systems strengthening and capacity building are the main priorities. It is argued that the current global health infrastructure does not focus on building long term partnerships, or assign equitable worth to participants from the global North and South. The COVID19 pandemic further highlighted the challenges to achieving desired health outcomes for all in the existing system. We will investigate how effective our current efforts are, and think critically about the meaning of ¿decolonizing global health¿ as regards the flow of resources and individual, population and systems outcomes.We will explore long-term partnerships that have yielded considerable success. The seminar will be grounded in a primary care perspective, with additional insights from guest speakers from various fields including biomedical science, anthropology, policy, governance and philanthropy whose global health backgrounds and experiences on the front lines will stimulate further dialogue and reflection.
Grading
Letter or Credit/No Credit
Units
3
Academic Career
Undergraduate
Course Tags
Contemporary Issues
Academic Year
Quarter
Spring
Section Days
Tuesday Thursday
Start Time
9:00 AM
End Time
10:20 AM
Location
Li Ka Shing Center, room 306