Global Health

Overview

Course Description

Designed for individuals from a wide range of disciplines and professions, the programme adopts a multidisciplinary approach that integrates health and social science perspectives to analyse, design, implement and evaluate health programmes within a global context.

Global health is an attempt to address health problems and issues that transcend national boundaries, and are informed by the circumstances and experiences of countries in differing contexts. The underlying assumption is that the world’s health problems are shared and are best tackled by cooperative action and the sharing of innovative solutions.

The Global Health programme of Trinity College Dublin augments traditional approaches to public and international health by bringing together perspectives and insights from a range of health and social sciences in understanding and resolving the challenges of global health. These problems may arise, for example, in relief and development programmes in developing countries; in conflict and post-conflict situations; with refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants; with tourists and business travellers. All countries give rise to inequities in health, wealth, education and human rights, and the interconnectedness of these issues will be a major theme running throughout the course.

The course also lays emphasis on ‘local' experiences that resonates globally in the case of Ireland. These include the influence of poverty and rapid social change on health and identity in Ireland; migration and refugee welfare, the consequences of ethnic conflict, the peace process and the challenges of reconciliation for creating inclusive health services. The strongest emphasis within the course is on health in developing countries and the impact of globalisation.