New injustices come to the fore” “

Policy-making organization at national and global level alike, fails to protect the health of individuals owing to severe unbalances in various areas according to a Report on “Global Health governance” conducted by Oslo University in conjunction with Lancet magazine. The Medicine faculty of the atheneum, with the support of the Norwegian foreign and health ministries, tasked 18 scholars from different scientific fields of research worldwide with identifying “critical policies” that undermine the effectiveness of measures adopted in the health sector. The Committee, set up in December 2011, tried to establish to what extent decision-making processes at global level affect health. It is a further criticism to the injustice of the present global economic system that protects a small group of people, causes environmental and social degradation with severe consequences on health. Seven “areas of injustice”. With no doubts, the results of medical and pharmaceutical research have largely benefited people’s health (with new vaccines, effective diagnostics and drugs), yet they failed to solve the problem of health in Europe and in at global level, especially in poor countries. According to the Committee, “this technological approach alone is not enough to tackle the root causes of health inequalities”. A much broader political – and economic – program is needed to bring about a change. The scholars identified six areas of injustice. These are: the global financial crisis and austerity policies; intellectual property rights; treaties on investments; food safety; multinational corporations; migration; armed violence. The committee voiced its criticism of financial restructuring plans imposed on Greece, Ireland, Portugal and underlined that “the customary practice” to correct financial deficit and government debt is to cut national spending without taking into account the impact on health of which Greece is an example, with devastated social and health sectors. Moreover, global food production accounts for 120% of global food needs, but corporative interests, which prioritize profit instead of health, hinder equal distribution. By paradox this injustice affects millions suffering from malnutrition and lack of food as well as growing numbers of people in high-income countries affected by diseases and early death caused by overnutrition and obesity. “Malfunction”: five causes. The Norwegian Committee identified five “diseases” affecting global governance, which prevent it from becoming a thrust of global justice. These are: democratic deficit, namely, stakeholders’ poor participation and representativeness (e.g. civil society, physicians) in decision-making processes thereby hampering the demand of efficient government commitment; poor responsibility mechanisms that prevent those in power from being forced to account for their decisions regarding weak and marginalized social brackets; difficulties in changing the rules of the game in decision-making processes; difficulties in making health policies a priority issue of all political groups, included in the economic and safety goals of a given Country; weakness or absence of institutions and want of international health regulations. Recommendations. The treatment suggested by all 18 experts focuses on the role of national institutions, highlighting the urgent need for a “multilateral global platform for health governance” under the auspices of the United Nations acting as a political forum “to examine, discuss, and propose health-related policies”. Moreover, the Committee called for the establishment of an “independent, scientific group to monitor decisive factors for health at social and political level alike”, comprising academic institutions and centres of excellence worldwide tasked with providing strategic, transparent information to institutions at global level. Furthermore, it is necessary to “strengthen existing health-protection mechanisms”, to build up global solidarity and shared responsibility with a view to the adoption of a new treaty binding world Countries to fund development and research for the benefit of vulnerable and marginalized social brackets. Finally, as summarized by Norwegian ex-minister Jonas Gahr Store, “health problems are not only the responsibility of health ministers. Moreover, health problems don’t entail expenses but investments”.