While many people use life expectancy as a key indicator of global health, Ellen Foley and Tsitsi Masvaure know the truth is more nuanced and complex. They are co-editors of a new book, The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Global Health, which asks how partnerships working to improve health outcomes can become more equitable.
Foley, a professor in Clark University’s School of Sustainability and Social Justice, and Masvaure, a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, are both medical anthropologists who study health and HIV in Africa. Their book explores the complex relationship between anthropology and global health and is organized into five sections:
Social, cultural, and political determinants of health Knowledge production in anthropology and global health Persistent invisibility in global health Rethinking critical global health New horizons in anthropology and global health
Throughout, scholars from around the world explore themes including rare diseases, HIV, health security, indigenous communities, and the decolonization of global health.
Professor Ellen Foley
“There’s been a huge movement to decolonize global health care,” Foley says. “This cannot be a case of wealthy Western or Northern countries coming to our aid and bringing their money and expertise.
“Why should Clark or WPI researchers apply for grants to get millions of dollars for research in Senegal without someone from Senegal sitting on a panel and evaluating the quality of that project? ” continues Foley. “I think all stakeholders should be at the table at every step. The people most involved should think through those decisions, but this is not the way global health has worked in the past. .”
Masvaure points out that while many funding agencies think of health as a “level” of disease, global health involves many different factors, including housing insecurity and food access.
Professor Tsitsi Masvavure. Courtesy photo.
“If we think of global health as the health of the world, including all of us, then we can move in all directions,” Masvaure says. “For example, if we have a malaria outbreak in the United States, let’s partner with countries that have dealt with malaria forever to help shape the U.S. response. That’s how we make our partnership fair. That’s one way to do it.
Global health can be improved everywhere, the authors argue.
“If you look at places like Senegal or Zimbabwe, you can gauge the burden of disease their populations face and how likely they are to live long, healthy lives compared to other regions,” Foley said. says. “Of course, we can do the same thing in Worcester. In south Worcester, there’s an eight-year difference in life expectancy between one zip code and another city zip code. These problems are here, and how they play out. You don’t have to go to Senegal or Zimbabwe to find out.
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