title: The global health concept of the German government: strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
abstract: Recognising global health as a rapidly emerging policy field, the German federal government recently released a national concept note for global health politics (July 10, 2013). As the German government could have a significant impact on health globally by making a coherent, evidence-informed, and long-term commitment in this field, we offer an initial appraisal of the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for development recognised in this document. We conclude that the national concept is an important first step towards the implementation of a coherent global health policy. However, important gaps were identified in the areas of intellectual property rights and access to medicines. In addition, global health determinants such as trade, economic crises, and liberalisation as well as European Union issues such as the health of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are not adequately addressed. Furthermore, little information is provided about the establishment of instruments to ensure an effective inter-ministerial cooperation. Finally, because implementation aspects for the national concept are critical for the success of this initiative, we call upon the newly elected 2013 German government to formulate a global health strategy, which includes a concrete plan of action, a time scale, and measurable goals.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice & Health Services Research, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; kayvan.bozorgmehr@med.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Kayvan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bozorgmehr
authors.affiliation: Institute of History, Theory and Ethics in Medicine, Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bruchhausen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Latin American Studies, German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hein
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of the History of Medicine, University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knipper
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Health, University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Korte
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology & International Public Health, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Razum
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health Sciences, Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité-University Medical Centre Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tinnemann
mesh_terms: D035082:Federal Government; D005858:Germany; D014943:Global Health; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans
keywords: foreign policy; global health; globalisation; governance; health policy; policy analysis