On December 6, the Foreign Minister participated in a panel discussion on the topic of Global Health Diplomacy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
At the event, Mr. Støre launched a new international collaborative research project that will explore the links between foreign policy and global health. The collaboration includes research institutions in five countries.
“We need a better understanding of the impact of various foreign policy domains on health, and what methods we should use to promote global health solutions in international politics,” Mr Støre said in his lecture.
Mr Støre said that epidemics such as SARS and H1N1 have reminded us that “national borders offer little protection against global health risks”, and “that national interests and national economy are dependent on global health conditions”.
The research project will analyse and document how foreign political priorities affect health, and how states’ global health efforts influence foreign policy.
The participating Norwegian institutions are the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and the University of Oslo’s Centre for Development and the Environment.
Harvard University is representing the US, through its Harvard School of Public Health, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Harvard Institute for Global Health. Indonesia is represented by the Gadjah Mada University, Brazil by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), and South Africa by the South Africa Institute of International Affairs.