Raising the Profile of Diplomacy in the U.S. Global Health Response: A Backgrounder on Global Health Diplomacy

The United States recently announced plans to create an Office of Global Health Diplomacy at the State Department, designed to promote the use of diplomacy to advance U.S. global health efforts and support the next phase of the U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI) in the diplomatic arena. While the office will be new, and there are outstanding questions about its role, it joins a much longer history of diplomatic engagement on international health issues by the U.S. and others.

This brief provides an overview of global health diplomacy, including how it has been defined and used historically both globally and in the U.S. The brief also examines potential challenges that may arise when foreign policy goals and efforts to achieve better health outcomes are at odds.

Issue Brief (.pdf)