28.07.2017

Global health advocates need to look critically at themselves, get out of their health bubble, and start to mobilize for global health

Ilona Kickbusch: Health diplomacy at the G20—success or failure?

thebmjopinion "Judging success or failure always depends on context. This year the G20 summit in Hamburg was not only opposed outside on the streets by anti-capitalist protesters, but there were strong divisions inside the negotiation room. Global health was on the agenda for the first time and the complicated political context was also reflected in the health negotiations.

Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet, was highly critical of the outcome, saying it lacked “concrete and specific actions.” Ever the stern school master he gave Angela Merkel credit for recognising “that global health is the foundation of economic success” but in his view the G20 had “flunked” on global health. I have three points to make on this." (Photo: univgirona/flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)