Canada's global health role

Abstract

The Lancet Series on Canada's global health role1Nixon SA Lee K Bhutta ZA et al.Canada's global health role: supporting equity and global citizenship as a middle power.Lancet. 2018; 391: 1736-1748Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar provides an analysis of Canada's global health leadership, including in research and innovation. However, the authors do not cite the available evaluations of the programmes they compare, particularly the Global Health Research Initiative2The Evaluation Centre for Complex Health InterventionsFinal report: evaluation of teasdale-corti initiative.https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/52321/IDL-52321.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=yDate: 2013Date accessed: November 4, 2018Google Scholar and Grand Challenges Canada.3Adams O Guimaraes L Atherton F Franzen S Development innovation fund—health: summative evaluation report.http://www.grandchallenges.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DIF-H_SummativeEvaluation_web_10-20-15.pdfDate: 2015Date accessed: November 4, 2018Google Scholar The evidence from these evaluations reach a different conclusion than the authors' opinion that suggested the Global Health Research Initiative had initial success that should have been continued, and that there were mixed views about Grand Challenges Canada's impact (appendix). We agree with the authors' main point on policy coherence. Grand Challenges Canada is an innovation platform4Singer P 2017 annual letter from Dr Peter Singer, Grand Challenges Canada.http://www.grandchallenges.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Annual-Letter-2017-EN-web.pdfDate: 2017Date accessed: November 4, 2018Google Scholar that closely mirrors development priorities of the Canadian Government, which are expressed in the Feminist International Assistance Policy.5Government of CanadaCanada's feminist international assistance policy.http://international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/priorities-priorites/policy-politique.aspx?lang=engDate: 2017Date accessed: November 4, 2018Google Scholar However, there should be room for progress in development innovation, particularly for areas that are highly neglected in relation to their disease burden. Grand Challenges Canada set mental health as a priority and resulted in the Government of Canada being recognised as supporting the world's largest pipeline of innovations in mental health. We also believe policy coherence extends beyond government alone. The challenges we face are too large to be solved by one sector alone. Therefore, it is important to leverage resources from across the public, private, academic, and not-for-profit sectors. Development spending must be efficient and effective. If we truly wish to improve global health, we should let evidence guide our decision making. We are employed by Grand Challenges Canada. Download .pdf (.43 MB) Help with pdf files Supplementary appendix Canada's global health role: supporting equity and global citizenship as a middle powerCanada's history of nation building, combined with its status as a so-called middle power in international affairs, has been translated into an approach to global health that is focused on equity and global citizenship. Canada has often aspired to be a socially progressive force abroad, using alliance building and collective action to exert influence beyond that expected from a country with moderate financial and military resources. Conversely, when Canada has primarily used economic self-interest to define its global role, the country's perceived leadership in global health has diminished. Full-Text PDF Canada's global health roleIn the Lancet Series on Canada's global health role ( April 28, p 1736 ),1 Stephanie A Nixon and colleagues perpetuate liberal myths about Canadian nation-building and foreign policy, proffering an uncritical historical assessment of the country's global health involvement. Particularly egregious is the argument that Canada needs to return to the imagined post-war glory days, when core values of health equity and diversity purportedly directed foreign policy. The authors ignore the fact that global health policy has long been compelled by political–economic imperatives that prioritise commercial interests, such as the 1950 Colombo Plan. Full-Text PDF Canada's global health role – Authors' replyKarlee Silver and colleagues highlight two reports about Canadian funding programmes for global health research that we did not include in our analysis of Canada's role in global health.1 We thank them for bringing attention to these two reports. One report assesses the Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program (in a largely negative light)2 and the other assesses Grand Challenges Canada (in a largely positive light).3 We note the Teasdale-Corti programme as one of many Canadian contributions to global health, and outline the history and mission of Grand Challenges Canada in a single paragraph. Full-Text PDF