“
How to achieve the most out of the reduced resources available in global health hinges on coordination among the multilateral players – including international organisations, global public
of ‘Promoting sustainable health development and sharing a healthy future’. China’s proactive engagement in multilateral health regimes demonstrates its aspiration to be a leader in global health governance. However, China has encountered problems in achieving its aspiration. Geopolitically, it has faced fierce strategic competition from the United States in recent years. As such, China is likely to marginalise global health issues in its foreign policy in order to pursue other high-profile strategic priorities in the current competitive geopolitical environment. Financially, as its economy has slowed substantially, China has neither the capacity nor the intention to fill the vacuum left by the United States in the long run. Indeed, no specifics have been provided by the Chinese government about the additional $500 million pledged to the WHO. The pledge has not been covered by any domestic state-led media outlets. Geopolitical competition makes
global health issues more politicised. This is detrimental to the coordination of multilateral organisations in global health governance. Therefore, a coordinated multilateral approach to global health crises is greatly needed now. With the US withdrawal from multilateral global organisations such as the WHO and UNESCO, and its disruptive cuts to health programmes abroad, how to achieve the most out of the reduced resources available in global health hinges on coordination among the multilateral players – including international organisations, global public partnerships and civil society organisations. Just as the economic and political reshuffling among powers has potentially irreversibly transformed global health politics, so too are global health regimes subject to fundamental reforms in their financing and governance structures. Multilateralism is the key to reforming global health regimes to meet global health crises successfully. ▪
partnerships and civil society organisations”
JIN JIYONG Jin Jiyong is a distinguished professor (Shanghai Oriental Scholar) at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Shanghai International Studies University, whose research focuses on global health governance. He was awarded a Fox International Fellowship by Yale University. His book International Regimes in Global Health Governance was published by Routledge in 2021. His research papers appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Global Public Health and World Economics and Politics .
111
Health: A Political Choice – The Future of Health in a Fractured World
Made with FlippingBook Annual report maker