The expanding importance of health as a global issue has focused attention on the value of applying the concept of Global Public Goods from economics to international health. The Global Public Goods for health concept considers 'goods' i.e. services, technologies and information, such as knowledge of an infectious disease outbreak or control of climate change, that are important for promoting the health of all populations and which are of benefit globally. Since these are 'public goods' there is often a lack of incentive to provide or feel responsible for them. The central challenge of the Global Public Goods for health concept is to ensure collective action at international level.
The main focus of this book is whether and how best Global Public Goods for health can be used to advance the health of poor populations. Written by experts from both the health, legal and economics worlds, Global Public Goods for Health develops the concept in relation to international health and health policy. Numerous case studies are used to illustrate the usefulness of the concept and consider the aspects of health that may be classed as Global Public Goods and how this helps to ensure their provision.
There is a growing awareness of cross-border issues in health that require new policy responses and financing mechanisms. This expanding importance of health as an international issue, and the growth in attention given to health by non-health sector bodies, has brought to prominence the
concept of Global Public Goods (GPGs) as applied to health: 'goods' that are in the interest of the world as a whole, but where 'public good' attributes (non excludability and non rivalry in consumption) mean that there is a lack of incentive to produce these goods.
The book addresses the growing globalism of health from the unique perspective of the economic concept of public goods. This concept identifies where a 'good' or service, such as knowledge of an infectious disease outbreak which would be of benefit globally, will not be produced if left to 'the
market' because of a lack of incentive due principally to not being able to exlude people from using the good. in this case the producer, of the information on disease outbreak for example, cannot charge a price and therefore cannot recoup production expenses. Nationally, the production of these
goods is usually assured by government intervention, but at the global level there is no 'global government' to undertake this role. The Global Public Good concept therefore extends the economic analysis of public goods to this international level. In this book we consider specifically the aspects
of health that may be classed as Global Public Goods and considers how the concept helps to ensure their provision.
Overall, if you are interested in understanding economic issues of globalization and health this is a good start, lots of useful information is wrapped up in here, from some of the leaders in the field.
