Neoliberalism and Global Health Policies

The understanding that different cultures have different ways of viewing and explaining health and illness.

The tendency to judge other cultures based on one's own cultural standards.

The process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and practices of a culture.

The way a person experiences and understands their illness, including their beliefs about its cause and treatment.

The formal system of knowledge and practice used by medical professionals.

The individual's personal experience of illness and their own understanding of the world.

The idea that medical practices can sometimes cause harm to patients, often inadvertently due to interventions.

The tendency of biomedicine to overlook the importance of culture and social factors in health and illness.

A political philosophy that emphasizes free markets, deregulation, and limited government intervention.

A type of economic model where prices and production are determined by supply and demand with minimal government control.

Policies designed to reduce government spending and promote private sector involvement in areas like healthcare and education.

The idea that healthcare should be considered a basic human right, accessible to all regardless of their circumstances.

A global healthcare model where wealthier nations provide funding and support to developing countries to improve their health systems.

The process of understanding and taking into account the cultural context and beliefs of individuals affected by healthcare interventions.

A case study that investigated how HIV prevention programs in Malawi were shaped by the influence of donors, implementing organizations, and local communities.

The interconnectedness of healthcare organizations, funding agencies, and communities in shaping global health interventions.

Moving beyond providing aid to supporting local communities and their development.

The idea that in our work we should prioritize helping the most vulnerable and marginalized.

A type of failure that occurs when projects or programs are poorly planned or implemented.

A type of failure that occurs when we fail to understand the cultural context or the needs of the people we are trying to help.

A strategy for addressing both failures of implementation and imagination. It involves working alongside communities to identify their needs and support their development.

A situation where organizations intended to address health problems in developing countries may actually undermine existing healthcare systems and weaken their long-term capacity.

Organizations that prioritize short-term, quick-fix solutions without considering long-term sustainability.

A set of principles that outline ethical and responsible practices for NGOs working in developing countries, focusing on building sustainable local health systems.

The lack of understanding and sensitivity to cultural differences in the context of aid work.

A satirical comedy that exposes the flaws and absurdities of the international aid system.

A criticism of the aid industry that focuses on projects that fail to address the root causes of poverty, highlighting the need for more sustainable solutions.

A term emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing the underlying social, economic, and political structures that contribute to poverty and disease.

A type of research where two groups are compared, one group receives an intervention, and the other does not. This design helps determine the effectiveness of the intervention.

The common practice in global health of rich countries giving aid to poor countries, which is often used as a justification for continuing to extract wealth from those countries. This essentially perpetuates a system of colonialism and exploitation.

The idea that the debt owed by poorer countries to richer countries should be forgiven. If this were to occur, then the money would go to improve the lives of the populace, not towards interest payments to foreign governments.

A framework for understanding the way that international organizations and governments have implemented policies to regulate the economies of developing countries. These policies, such as structural adjustment programs, have often had negative impacts on their budgets and their health systems, leading to decreased availability of primary health care.

A primary health care system that focuses on addressing the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable communities, such as orphans and vulnerable women. This can involve providing access to essential services, as well as empowering these groups to become active participants in their own healthcare.

A model of primary health care that was effective in Mozambique, but was damaged by structural adjustment programs and war, leading to diminished access to healthcare services in the country.

These are the routines, practices, and spaces that characterize global health training, including the materials, activities, and social interactions that are commonplace in these settings. They often serve to reinforce and perpetuate existing power dynamics within the global health system.

The ways in which the practices and routines of global health work to reinforce and perpetuate certain patterns of power.

This is often referred to as the 'aid in reverse' concept, which posits that poor countries have a history of being exploited by richer countries, and that they continue to give money back to those countries through various means. This goes beyond just the practice of aid, and encompasses the many ways that the global economy is structured to benefit wealthy nations at the expense of poorer ones.

The idea that universal measurements, like those used in global health, are not neutral but shaped by historical power relations, particularly colonialism. These measurements were developed by economists and often prioritize economic outcomes over the complex realities of different cultures and contexts.

The Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) is a metric used to assess the value of health interventions by measuring the quality of life gained in relation to the intervention. It's often used in developed countries to prioritize interventions that improve quality of life and are cost-effective.

The Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) is a metric used to assess the burden of disease and injury by calculating the number of years lost due to premature death or disability. Often applied to "developing" countries to justify interventions that reduce morbidity and mortality, implying a loss of productivity.

The reliance on metrics in global health can create a pressure to prioritize interventions that produce quantifiable results, even if these results may not reflect the true needs or priorities of local communities.

A type of research study where participants are randomly assigned to receive a program or intervention or a control group. It is often used to assess the effectiveness of interventions in global health.

The use of RCTs in low-income countries can raise ethical concerns, as participation in the study may be the only way for people to access healthcare. This can create a pressure to prioritize the need for data over the well-being of individuals.

The ongoing attempt to create better metrics in global health reflects a recognition of the limitations of existing measures. However, this constant search for 'less problematic' metrics can perpetuate the focus on quantification and overlook the complex social and cultural factors that shape health.

A case study from Nigeria highlighted how the need to produce metrics influenced the design and implementation of a health project. The researchers had to abandon their project because there were not enough deaths to demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the intervention and the control group.