Hoover Institution: Reshaping Global Health, Time for a Structural and Philosophical Shift

via Hoover Institution Stanford University, by Mark Dybul, Peter Piot, and Julio Frenk

Excerpt:

However, the focus on specific diseases has imposed and exposed fault lines in delivering services in places where many suffer from multiple health issues at the same time or at varying points in their lives. Although studies have shown that hiv interventions have reduced overall mortality and that malaria and immunization programs have reduced childhood mortality in the near term, it seems highly likely that more lives will be durably saved if a person afflicted by different health problems has access to services for all of them. Although there are limited supportive data, we believe it is likely that an integrated approach focused on the health of a person and community is more cost-effective than a silo approach focused on a specific disease or health threat. Yet, existing global health institutions were designed for specific diseases and have not effectively shifted to embrace a broader vision. It is time for a Bretton Woods-style agreement to guide a new international health strategy and rationalize its structure.

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