A central element of global health is the matter of equity; a discussion with roots in colonialist endeavours, equally relevant in all levels of the field today and in the future. By disassembling constituting elements of global health, it becomes clear how the contemporary field is based on and biased in Global North cultures and traditions, which frames the Eurocentric perspective as the neutral and the norm, and therefore solutions and strategies for combating global risks are customised to fit societies of the Global North. Contemporary interventions undertaken in the name of promoting global health represent enduring challenges and new trends relating to international efforts to improve health conditions, primarily in the Global South. This talk will focus on both sides of the encounter, the agents of intervention, health professionals and the targets, local populations emphasising ethno-racial representations and the burden of ‘otherness’ because the intervention power dynamics influence both. With a broad perspective on historical continuity and ruptures we will explore legacies of mistrust in colonial medicine, postcolonial approaches, and integration of the local, traditional health practices. In the quest for global health equity, we invite you to focus the decolonisation process through four levels: knowledge, leadership, policy, and praxis.

For further reading:

(2015) Intermarriage &Mixed Parenting: Promoting Mental health & Wellbeing Palgrave- Macmillan