Ilona Kickbusch


"The term Global Health stands for a new context, a new awareness and a new strategic approach in matters of international health. Its focus is the impact of global interdependence on the determinants of health, the transfer of health risks and the policy response of countries, international organizations and the many other actors in the global health arena. Its goal is the equitable access to health in all regions of the globe."

The commercial and political determinants of health

WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All
Ilona Kickbusch is a member of the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All. The WHO Council on the Economics of Health For All aims to reframe health for all as a public policy objective, and ensure that national and global economies and finance are structured in such a way to deliver on this ambitious goal. The Council will aim to create a body of work that sees investment in local and global health systems as an investment in the future, not as a short-term cost. The Council has issued a manifesto and several policy briefs.

Ilona Kickbusch is has consistently drawn attention to the commercial and political determinants of health. Here are some examples of this work:

The political determinants of health
Ilona Kickbusch engaged in a project together with the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Council on Foreign Relation to run a series of dialogues on the interface of democracy and health. Results were presented in a special series of the BMJ.

Ilona Kickbusch has been invited to contribute to a special series of the
Lancet for a forthcoming issue on Political Science in Global Health

The work of the Lancet Financial Times Commission on “Governing Health Futures” has proposed to address the digital determinants of health.