Health diplomacy: European perspectives (2017)

Edited by: Ilona Kickbusch & Mihály Kökény
2017, xii + 177 pages
ISBN 978 92 890 5260 3
This publication is only available online.

Global processes – such as climate change, pandemics and modern societies’ patterns of unsustainable consumption – gave health diplomacy new relevance, making it central to health governance at global and regional levels, and integral to foreign policy in many countries. This book is part of the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s response to the WHO Regional Committee for Europe’s 2010 request that it strengthen the capacity of diplomats and health officials in global health diplomacy.

It presents 17 case studies that illustrate recent developments in the WHO European Region. The examples range from negotiating for health in the Paris Agreement on climate change and the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, to placing antimicrobial resistance on the global agenda and showing the relevance of city health diplomacy. Chapters review subregional efforts in south-eastern Europe and central Asian countries; progress on road safety in the Russian Federation; experience with integrated health diplomacy in Malta and Switzerland; Germany’s activities in the Group of 7 and Group of 20; the work of WHO country offices from a diplomacy perspective and the collaboration between WHO and the European Union; and training to increase capacity for health diplomacy in diplomats and health officials. A discussion of future challenges for health diplomacy concludes this unique compilation.